Diving Plongeon Canada – Jennifer Abel and Mélissa Citrini-Beaulieu turned in their best performance of the season, at home in Montreal, winning silver in the women’s 3m springboard at FINA Diving World Series #3 on Friday. 

The pair scored a season best 304.83 points, beaten by China’s Yani Chang and Tingmao Shi who registered 313.50 points. Australia’s Esther Qin and Anabelle Smith were third place with 295.80 points. 

“I’m really happy about today, we did a really good job,” said Abel, 26. 

“We were working a lot on the little details that in the future are going to help us get us even closer to the first step of the podium, but technically today everything was good for us.”

The Canadians actually led the powerful Chinese after the third dive but couldn’t hang on. Citrini-Beaulieu, 22, said she faltered slightly on the fourth dive, but was unaware of the lead after three plunges.

“We didn’t know until people told us but it’s pretty positive because we can see that they’re not unbeatable,” said Citrini-Beaulieu. 

It was also encouraging considering the busy start to this diving season.

“We’re in the middle of the season, we’re travelling a lot, and tired, not the best preparation we can have for this competition,” said Citrini-Beaulieu, of St. Constant, Que., “But good things happened, we’re pretty happy with it.”

Friday was also an upgrade because the Canadians won bronze at each of the first two FINA Diving World Series events. 

It was also to the delight of the home crowd, at Montreal’s Centre Sportif du Parc olympique, where Abel and Citrini-Beaulieu train. 

“We feel really comfortable especially for springboard divers since we don’t have to adjust ourselves to the springboard,” said Abel, from Laval, Que., “I like being home, I like diving in front of our crowd so for me it was a good day at the pool.”

Montreal’s Meaghan Benfeito and Calgary’s Caeli McKay were fourth-place in the women’s 10m synchro platform (293.70 points), while Philippe Gagné, of Montreal, and François Imbeau-Dulac, of Saint-Lazare, Que., placed fourth in the men’s 3m synchro springboard (409.86 points). 

Day 2 in Montreal will feature Benfeito and Celina Toth in the women’s 10m platform, plus Gagné and Imbeau-Dulac in the men’s 3m springboard. 

Benfeito and Nathan Zsombor-Murray will team up in the mixed 10m synchro platform. 

Full results: http://omegatiming.com/Competition?id=0001120002FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF&sport=AQ&year=

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For more information:
Maelle Dancause
Manager, Communications
Diving Plongeon Canada
C: 514-475-4540 | maelle@diving.ca