10 divers to watch for at Canada Cup this week
The Canada Cup FINA Diving Grand Prix is coming up at Repsol Sports Centre April 4 to 7 and a collection of elite divers from the 22 other countries are taking part. Here’s a quick list of who to watch for at this year’s competition:
Caeli McKay – Canada
10m platform and 10m synchronized platform
The 19-year-old Calgarian cut her teeth on the diving towers at Repsol, and returns home a regular on the senior national team, with two bronze medals already this season from the more elite FINA Diving World Series with 10m synchro partner, Meaghan Benfeito. Now in her third full season on the tour, McKay is comfy with international competition and the Canada Cup will be another chance for a hometown show off.
Meaghan Benfeito – Canada
10m platform and 10m synchronized platform
The unofficial momma of the senior national team, Benfeito is also an official boss on 10m, with three Olympic medals, and by far the most experience. She and McKay have found their footing in synchro at the Diving World Series, and Benfeito also has a silver and bronze from the season’s opening events in Asia.
Melissa Wu – Australia
10m platform
Fracturing her humerus bone in a trampoline accident her first year as a diver didn’t stop Wu. After six months away from training, she came back, and a few years later made the 2006 Commonwealth Games as a 13-year-old, winning a silver medal on home soil in Melbourne. Since then, the mixed race (Australian and Chinese) star has won multiple Olympic and FINA World Championships medals.
Vincent Riendeau – Canada
10m platform and 10m synchronized platform
One of the key talents in a youth movement for Canadian diving, at 22, Riendeau already has an Olympic Games under his belt, and is building a resume of international highlights. Riendeau won a silver medal last year in Calgary, and has managed to be a multiple finalist on the Diving World Series tour.
Daniel Goodfellow – Great Britain
3m springboard
An Olympic medallist on 10m platform, Goodfellow will apply his talents to the board in Calgary. He’s no rookie there, with a deep international background including a bronze medal in 3m synchro from the season opening Diving World Series in Japan. In fact, Goodfellow has been competing regularly on the board since last season.
Huan Bowen – China
3m springboard
Huan Bowen will be in his element in Calgary. With nothing less than fourteen Grand Prix gold medals since 2015, he will be a serious threat on 3m. He has already represented China at sixteen Grand Prix events and is a World Junior Diving Championships gold medallist from 2014.
Jennifer Abel – Canada
3m springboard and 3m synchronized springboard
By far the most experienced Canadian on board, Abel made her first Olympics at just 16, (she was the youngest member of Team Canada at Beijing 2008). Since then, the Olympic medallist has established herself as a constant podium threat against the best in the world, and is known for her dead serious demeanour in competition.
Esther Qin – Australia
3m springboard and 3m synchronized springboard
Qin learned early, and from the best, by starting her diving career in her birth country of China before moving to Australia in 2009. She made the Rio Olympics in 2016, making the 3m springboard final two years after scoring a breakout gold medal at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Ma Tong – China
3m springboard
Ma Tong leads the way for China with some unreal success on the world junior stage. The 17 year-old is a two-time World Junior Diving Championships gold medallist from 2018, and has already won gold at a Diving Grand Prix, doing so in Malaysia last year.
Tina Punzel – Germany
3m springboard and 3m synchronized springboard
The young Olympian has built a strong international results list this season, with four finals appearances at the first two Diving World Series events. That means she can hang with the best. Punzel is also a multiple European Championships medallist, and is one of the athletes who embraces Diving Grand Prix events to gain extra reps against top international competition.
Admission is free on Thursday and Friday, and tickets are still available for Saturday and Sunday at canadacupdiving.com