August 16th 2022 – Sonya Palkhivala and Chris Booler led off the first diving events of the week by climbing atop the podium Tuesday at the Canada Games, held in Niagara.
Sonya Palkhivala (Pointe-Claire, QC) won gold in the artistic diving event with 221.10 points. The 17-year-old and her teammates made it an all-Quebec podium. Julianne Boisvert took silver with 205.40 points and Amélie-Laura Jasmin won bronze with 195.20.
Palkhivala was extremely happy to start off the week with the artistic diving event. Over the course of this particular event, divers must execute five dives from five different groups from the 3m springboard while not exceeding a cumulative degree of difficulty of 9.5.
“I am really happy! I felt this could be an event in which I could excel. I am very tall and I have beautiful lines. I was very happy that this event was featured”, exclaimed Palkhivala.
“I think this is an event that really shows how beautiful diving can be. You can’t win by showing off spins and somersaults, it’s truly about the quality of your movements. I love this event. You can’t fake it. You have to execute your dives to perfection », she added.
Palkhivala, participating in her first Canada Games, had nothing but good things to say about her experience during the first day of competition:
“It’s so fun. The energy is great across all the teams. It’s much friendlier than other competitions. I love it. I was really happy to share the podium with my two friends in the artistic diving event. We really came out strong today”.
Named to the Canadian Junior National Team this year, Palkhivala is no stranger to podium success. At the 2021 Pan Am Junior Championships, she won two gold medals and a silver.
Chris Booler is crowned champion in the men’s event
The Fleur-de-lys floated above the men’s artistic diving event as well.
Beaconsfield’s Chris Booler won gold with 229.75 points followed by Manitoba’s Adam Cohen, in second with 219.70. Ontario’s Emmitt Reesor rounded out the podium in third with 215.10 points.
Booler wasn’t quite sure what to expect before the event.
“I came here with an open mind, to have fun and dive as well as I could. It was a winning formula! I am really happy to have won a medal. It’s super exciting”, declared Booler.
“It’s a great atmosphere. It’s a different type of event since the dives are slightly less difficult. It’s really interesting”, added the 16-year-old diver who was named to the Junior National Team in 2022.
Ontario A dominates the mixed team event
Emmitt Reesor, Aislinn Zuechner, Ciro Mejia and Nigel Chamber (Ontario A) won the mixed team event with a cumulative score of 499.80.
They edged out Quebec’s Olivier Gauthier, Arnaud Goulet, Amélie-Laura Jasmin and Jordane Legault (Québec – Blanc) who took silver with 454.90 points.
Leia Berman, Attila Bernatsky, Adam Cohen and Alex Tiaglei (Manitoba A) were third with a score of 418.80.
Forty-nine divers are taking part in the Canada Games. Competitions will continue until Sunday.
For complete results, visit : https://cg2022.gems.pro/Result/Event_List.aspx?Sport_GUID=b001398d-e27b-43d6-8f19-d1e2d259bdb8&GameDay_GUID=20bf6bbf-2c6f-4fa9-b72a-853ec026fb4b&SetLanguage=fr-CA
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. Representing nine provincial diving associations, 67 local diving clubs and close to 4,000 high-performance athletes, DPC shares a national commitment to advance the art and sport of diving and to position Canada as the number one diving nation in the world.
For information, visit www.diving.ca.
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For more information:
Maëlle Dancause
Communications Manager
Diving Plongeon Canada
514-475-4540 | maelle@diving.ca