Montréal, July 11, 2023 – Sonya Palkhivala , who won gold in yesterday’s 1-metre event, captured a second gold medal on Tuesday at the Montréal Junior National Diving Festival, being held at the Parc Jean-Drapeau Aquatic Complex.
“Today was a very good day!” said Palkhivala, who trains at the Pointe-Claire Diving Club, after dominating the Group A 3-metre preliminary rounds and capping off the day with 493.85 points in the big final.
Mathilde Laberge (CAMO, 481.75) and Keira Lu (Boardworks, 463.30) joined Palkhivala on the podium, winning silver and bronze, respectively.
Geoffrey Vavitsas (TDA) also earned a gold medal in Montréal today, with a cumulative score of 486.05 in the Group A platform final. Last year, he won bronze in the same event at the Junior National Festival.
“I feel really great! Finishing like this is a great experience. After doing well in my most recent trials, I was hoping I’d be up to the challenge again,” explained Vavitsas, who had his sights set on nothing less than a spot on the podium on Tuesday.
Vavitsas took the lead in the qualifiers and managed to hold onto it until the end of the day to claim the much-coveted gold medal.
“I was nervous for the final because there was so much at stake! Since it was my final event at this competition, I wanted to give it my all and finish on a high note. My coaches really helped me achieve that, and I’d like to thank them.”
Bronze medalist yesterday, Nigel Chambers (Forest City) secured the silver medal with 466.95 points and Arnaud Goulet (Agami) won bronze with 417.90.
The action will continue on Wednesday at Parc Jean-Drapeau with the girls’ Group B 3-metre event and the boys’ Group A 1-metre and Group B platform events.
More information :
Alexandra Piché
Manager, Communications
Diving Canada
C: 514 625-5513
alexandra@diving.ca