2021 FINA Virtual Diving Grand Prix – Day 4 presented by 1 Square Phillips and Speedo
Ethan Pitman took the top spot while Matt Cullen finished second and Laurent Gosselin-Paradis finished fourth in the men’s open platform final on Sunday at the FINA Virtual Diving Grand Prix. On the women’s side, Olivia Chamandy finished second and Katelyn Fung was third in the open 3m final.
The Canadian edition of the 2021 FINA Diving Grand Prix, also known as the Canada Cup, is being hosted virtually. This is Diving Plongeon Canada’s second virtual competition that allows international athletes to compete against each other in real-time. The event features 34 athletes from 4 nations (GBR, CAN, SVK, USA), competing from 6 different locations.
Pitman (Montreal, QC) finished with a combined score of 424.60 to finish ahead of Cullen (Rosemère, QC) who scored 410.10. Great Britain’s Ben Cutmore finished third with a score of 404.10.
Gosselin-Paradis (Montreal, QC) had a cumulative score of 367.05.
“I was really happy with how I did. It took me a while to figure out how to get competing and how to get used to doing these virtual competitions and to just get back into competition-mode in general because it had been so long without competing,” Pitman said. “I think this is a good step forward for the Olympic trials next month. It shows I am able to compete, so I am happy about that.”
Following Friday’s prelims, Cullen (404.15) held the top spot while Pitman (403.65) was second and Gosselin-Paradis (364.05) was fifth.
“I was a little more consistent, I didn’t have a big miss today,” said Pitman. “In the prelims I had a really big miss on one of my dives which is usually the dive I struggle with the most, but today I was able to do it decently enough that it didn’t affect my score.”
In the women’s open 3m final, Chamandy (Montreal, QC) scored 282.60 and Fung (London, ON) had a combined score of 271.50.
“It went better than the prelims on Friday,” Chamandy said. “It was pretty stable. Consistent. It was nothing amazing, but I didn’t miss anything. That’s positive. I was happy with my third dive, the front three-and-a-half, it’s a dive that is tough for me to make so I was happy that I got it and I was even maybe a little over which is good for me.
“One dive I am probably a little upset with is my fourth dive, my back two-and-a-half was a little bit short. I felt I could’ve spaced it a little bit better.”
Chamandy (270.35) was fourth and Fung (222.90) was sixth following the prelims.
“I felt better. I was a little more confident in my dives, I’d say,” said Chamandy. “Less stressed. I’d say the stability was also way better. Stability was better and my mental state was better too.”
About the 2021 – FINA Virtual Diving Grand Prix – Canada
The FINA Virtual Diving Grand Prix – Canada runs May 27-30. The six competition sites include Saanich Commonwealth Place, Victoria, BC, Shaw Centre, Saskatoon, SK, Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, Toronto, ON, Olympic Park Sports Centre, Montreal, QC, Forest Park Aquatic Center as well as Noblesville, IN (USA) and the Ponds Forge International Sports Centre, Sheffield, ENG (UK). The event includes 18 judges from across Canada, the UK and the USA who submit their scores in real-time through Integrated Sports Systems’ uJudge platform as the competition takes place.
The Grand Prix is managed through five virtual locations across Canada; Results management (Montreal, QC), webstream production and graphics (Thunder Bay, ON), announcing (Kelowna, BC), judging coordination (Victoria, BC), and competition management (Ottawa, ON).
This event can occur in large part through important hosting grants that Diving Plongeon Canada received from Sport Canada’s International Single Sport Event program and Ontario’s Sport Hosting Program.
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.