World’s Best Divers Looking Forward to Competing in FINA/CNSG Diving World Series in Montreal

Penny Joyce, Cao Yuan, Meaghan Benefeito, Maddison Keeney, Kathy Seaman and Mitch Geller; Photo Courtesy: Antoine Saito

Eighty-five of the world’s best divers have arrived in Montreal for the third leg of a total FINA/CNSG Diving World Series events. Prior editions in Sagamihrara, Japan (87 divers) and Beijing, China (67) tested the athletes who have arrived in Canada earlier this week to compete head to head to win more medals and prize money. Divers from 14 nations will earn ranking points at the Canadian edition of FINA’s world-renowned event.

The middle of five FINA/CNSG Diving World Series events will feature Olympic Champions from the 2016 Rio Olympics include Jack Laugher (GBR), Shi Tingmao (CHN) and Cao Yuan (CHN). Showcasing their impressive skills across ten diving events will be 30 medalists from the 2017 FINA World Championships including World Champions Tom Daley (GBR), Maddison Keeney (AUS) and Evgeni Kuznetsov (RUS). The roster of international diving stars and Olympic medalists include Pandelela (MAS), Patrick Hausding (GER) and Canada’s own Olympic heroes Jennifer Abel and Meaghan Benefeito. Team Canada was represented in every final event and won five medals last year in the Montreal edition.

Cao Yuan, Meaghan Benefeito, Maddison Keeney, Kathy Seaman, Mitch Geller and Penny Joyce at the opening press conference; Photo Courtesy: Antoine Saito

Chinese divers earned 49 total medals awarded during the 2018 World Series, 34 of those were gold. Second place Russia collected 19 medals and third place Canada nabbed 13 medals were the only other nations to earn a double digit medals last year. Only Russia (2), Canada (3) and Malaysia (1) won gold medals in 2018. A total of 12 federations earned at least two medals during the 4 events of the 2018 World Series.

Overall Ranking Across each Event through two of five 2019 FINA/CNSG Diving World Series Events:

CHN – 54 points — Mixed 10m Synchro Platform
YANG, Jian (CHN) – 38 points — Men’s 10m Platform
ZHANG, Jiago (CHN) – 36 points — Women’s 10m Platform
CHN – 54 points — Mixed 3M Synchro Springboard
CAO, Yuan – 34 points — Men’s 3m Springboard
WANG, Han – 34 points — Women’s 3m Springboard
CHN – 54 points — Men’s 3m Synchro Springboard
CHN – 54 points — Women’s 3m Synchro Springboard
CHN – 54 points — Men’s 10m Synchro Springboard
CHN – 54 points — Women’s 10m Synchro Platform

The venue for the FINA World Series is the Montreal Olympic Pool which was built for the 1976 Summer Olympics, as part of the Montreal Olympic Park. At the 1976 Olympics the venue hosted swimming, diving, water polo and the swimming portion of the Modern Pentathlon events. The venue has a current spectator capacity of 3,012 seats, down from the 1976 capacity of 10,000 seats following the removal of nearly 7000 temporary seats. The building was designed by French architect Roger Taillibert, who also designed the Olympic Stadium and Olympic Village.

Team Canada; Photo Courtesy: Antoine Saito

QUOTES

Meghan Benefeito (CAN): “Last year I earned two medals at the World Series in Montreal. My goal for this event is three medals, one in each of the events I am competing in. Caeli ( McKay) and I are performing a new dive in the Women’s 10m Synchro Platform, and we are really excited about it. It’s a back three-and-one-half somersault in a tuck position and it raises the degree of difficulty on our list. I was really pleased to earn 5 medals in China and Japan and doing so took the weight off on my shoulders.”

Cao Yuan (CHN): “I expect to have a strong performance in Montreal and I also hope that I can become the champion in each event that I compete in. We are very grateful for the support of the Chinese community living in Montreal that will come to see us dive. We promise to do our best in return for their support and passion.”

Mitch Geller – Diving Plongeon Canada Chief Technical Officer: “I’m really proud to be here with Team Canada and the team that you will see performing the most focused and committed squad in the history of our sport We are as prepared as we can possibly be and I would not change anything. This is a team that I am really proud of. Canada won 11 medals in 14 events in the first two editions of the World Series this year. We are hoping that our home field advantage might help us against the strongest field in diving competition. Every athlete has something to offer in this competition. This one of the last opportunities for athletes to try our “new tricks” before the FINA World Championships so this will be an exciting event. Everyone is here! This is the strongest field, and the only prediction I can make is that this event will be unpredictable.”

Penny Joyce – Chief Operating Officer Diving Plongeon Canada: “The Olympic pool will be an elegant stage for everyone in Montreal to see this great competition featuring the best Canadian divers who are also among the worlds best athletes. We wish to thank FINA’s sponsors and also the our Canadian sponsors for their support of this high profile event in this iconic venue. After such a successful event in 2018, we couldn’t be more excited to be back in Montreal this year.”

Maddison Keeney (AUS): “I worked hard to qualify for the World Series so that I could be here in Montreal as I was not here last year. The city is so beautiful and welcoming. It’s been a year for experimentation at World Series events and I will be trying out new dives. The World Series is so important in preparation for the World Championships this summer and it is the path to the Olympic Games in 2020.”

Kathy Seaman (CAN) Chair of the FINA Technical Diving Committee: “Without our stars, these exceptional divers, this event would not be possible. I am sure that in Montreal this event will be passionate and also competitive and it will surely also be exciting and fun. If you are here in Montreal you will be treated to spectacular visual performances, and if you are not here you can watch them on FINA TV’s Live Stream of the World Series. FINA President Julio Maglione extends his best wishes to each of the competitors. He extends his appreciation to Diving Plongeon Canada, and also to FINA Sponsors CNSG, Nongfu Spring and Omega.

The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with Diving Canada. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.

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