February 25, 2023 – Margo Erlam and Thomas Ciprick both finished in fourth place on Saturday on the second day of the 2023 Pan American Qualifying Championships in Leon, Mexico. 

For Erlam, who was in action in the women’s 1 m, it was a return to international competition after undergoing surgery that required several weeks of hard work to get back into shape. 

As Canada had already secured its quota spots in this event at the last World Championships, she was there to prepare for the 3 m event, which she will compete in on Sunday. 

“It was a great introduction for me to do the 1 m. I didn’t have any particular goal but I’m pretty happy with my final,” said the woman who scored 251.95 for her five dives. 

“I’m not completely back to my pre-surgery form, but it’s nice to be back and do my dives here. My team, my physical therapists and my coach, worked very hard to help me get back last month for the Winter Nationals. I feel like I’m slowly getting there,” said the Saskatoon Diving Club athlete.  

Mexico’s Paola Pineda (270.95) won the gold medal, ahead of her compatriot Arantxa Chavez (260.05). Cuba’s Prisis Ruiz Randich (253.15) took third place. 

In the men’s 3 m, Thomas Ciprick also placed fourth. The judges gave the Pointe-Claire Diving Club athlete a score of 382.85. 

Dominican Jonathan Ruvalcaba Peralta (472.05) took the top spot on the podium. Mexico’s Kevin Alexander Munoz snuck into second place, ahead of Cuba’s Laydel Dominguez Cervantes (385.25). 

Ciprick, a Calgary native, was very happy to be competing in his first international competition in a long time.

“It was still a long day of competition. I came in feeling pretty good for the preliminaries. It takes a lot of energy to compete, so by the time I got to the finals I was pretty tired. I still managed to stay focused and dive well,” he commented. 

“It could have been better. It wasn’t my best performance at all, but I take a lot of positives from my day. I felt comfortable on the board today with my dives and I’m happy with that. Now it’s just a matter of doing some fine tuning on my dives that will allow me to get some more points,” he added. 

For him, this competition was a good way to start the year 2023. He is looking forward to seeing what the upcoming season has in store for him. 

On Sunday, Margo Erlam will be back to compete in the women’s 3 m. Pamela Ware is also competing in that event. In the men’s 10 m event, Rylan Wiens and Nathan Zsombor-Murray will be in action.

For the complete schedule and to watch the events live: https://guanajuato2023.panamaquaticsevents.com/en/.

About Diving Plongeon Canada

Diving Plongeon Canada (DPC) was established in 1967 as a not-for-profit organization to promote the growth and awareness of the sport in this country. As a member of FINA, the world’s governing body of aquatic sports, DPC contributes to the development of globally accepted standards of excellence in diving and supports the rules and regulations of international competition. DPC shares a national commitment to advance the art and sport of diving and to position Canada as the number one diving nation of the world. For information, visit www.diving.ca.

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Information:

Alexandra Piché

Communications Manager

Diving Plongeon Canada

alexandra@diving.ca