Saskatoon’s Rylan Wiens wins silver medal at diving Grand Prix

MADRID- Rylan Wiens of Saskatoon saved his best dive for last to win the silver medal Friday on men’s 10-m tower at the season opening stop on the FINA Grand Prix circuit in diving.

David Dinsmore of the U.S. won the gold medal with 436.95 points followed by Wiens at 426.20 and Artsiom Barouski of Belarus in third at 352.25.

Laurent Gosselin-Paradis of Montreal was fourth at 344.35.

Wiens, a 2018 Commonwealth Games team member and the junior and senior national champion in 2019, received at least 7.0’s from the judges on all six dives in the final. His best overall score was 78.20 points for his reverse three and half in the last round.

“Going into the final I was confident in myself and what I had been working on through the week,” said Wiens, 20. “I knew if I wanted a medal I would have to dive pretty good. My main goal was to do exactly what I did in practice every day, and I think I did a pretty good job of that in the final.

‘’None of my dives were stellar, but I felt as though I did a very consistent list and I was very happy with how I performed today.’’

Gosselin-Paradis produced a strong start in the final before struggling on his last two dives.

‘’Everything was stable before,’’ said Gosselin-Paradis. ‘’On the last dive I went over too much and that probably cost me a medal.’’

On women’s three-metre, Kassidy Cook led the U.S. to a 1-2 finish with 308.10.  Sarah Bacon was second at 297.60 and Emma Gullstrand of Sweden third at 295.55.

Margo Erlam of Calgary produced a consistent performance and just missed the podium at 291.30.

Competition continues through to Sunday.
Full results: Select Event