A First for Katelyn Fung and Kate Miller
Montréal World Cup
Montréal, February 28, 2026 – Katelyn Fung and Kate Miller secured their first international podium finish as a team in the synchronized 10m event on Saturday, the penultimate day of the Montréal Diving World Cup, which is being held at the Olympic Park swimming pool.
The two athletes from Ontario earned their best scores on their final two of five dives (69.12 and 73.92 points). Their total of 296.94 points placed them just ahead of the Australians (293.22), who were provisionally second with one dive remaining.
The gold medal went to Lu Wei and Zhang Minjie of China (349.98), while the silver was awarded to Jo Jin Mi and Kim Mi Hwa of North Korea (304.92).
“It’s really amazing, and such a great reward! It shows how hard we’ve worked in training. We don’t live in the same place, but [Miller] comes here to train, so we take advantage of that to prepare ourselves well,” said Fung, who hails from London but trains at the National Centre in Montréal.
Miller is a student at the University of Southern California, but she plans to be in Montréal more frequently to train with her partner in advance of the Los Angeles Olympic Games, which will take place in just over two years.
“Last year was the first time we dove as a team, so it’s incredible for us to have won a medal in our second year together. We have a pretty good idea of what we’ll be able to accomplish in our next competition,” said Miller, who is from Ottawa, and who hopes to ride today’s momentum into the women’s 10m individual final on Sunday.
“Our result today is a boost to our confidence going forward. It takes time to get used to diving at the international level, but I think we’ve taken a step in the right direction,” Fung was quick to add.
A successful first showing for Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Carson Paul
On Saturday, Nathan Zsombor-Murrayand Carson Paul (389.55) competed as a team in the men’s synchronized 3m event for the very first time. The pair came close to claiming the third spot on the podium, but fell short by just 4.11 points and finished fourth, just behind Anthony Harding and Jack Laugher of Great Britain (393.66).
The gold medal was captured by Wang Zongyuan and Zheng Jiuyuan of China (461.37), while the silver medal was secured by Juan Celaya Hernandez and Osmar Olvera Ibara of Mexico (441.63).
“This was my first-ever competition in the synchronized 3m event,” said Zsombor-Murray, of Pointe-Claire. “So it was a bit of a test, to see how we would do together. It went really well. There are definitely dives we can improve on, and these weren’t the highest scores we could possibly achieve, but I’m proud of [Carson] and of the way we dove,” said the Québécois, referring to his teammate from Victoria.
Zsombor-Murray, who won a bronze medal in the synchronized 10m platform event at the Paris Olympic Games, decided to switch to the 3m springboard for the current Olympic cycle. Saturday was only the third time that he and Paul dove together, including during training sessions, suggesting that very good results are on the horizon.
Sonya Palkhivala fifth and proud of it
Consistency was key in allowing Sonya Palkhivala (321.75) to achieve the best individual result of her career at a World Cup stage event: fifth place in the women’s individual 3m competition on Saturday.
“I’m really proud of my performance today. My coaches and I worked very hard to come up with a list of dives that we would be proud of,” said Palkhivala, who was competing in her first final at this level.
“In order to dive as best I could, I had to stay focused on the task at hand, and I think I managed to do that pretty well,” said the athlete from Pointe-Claire, who was proud not only of her two new dives, but also of having been able to control her nerves. “This was a big step for me. In the past, I’ve struggled to keep my emotions in check and remain consistent, but this proves that I can do it.”
The other Canadian finalist, Margo Erlam of Calgary (304.15), faltered on her second dive and slid to twelfth place. However, she made a strong comeback and ultimately finished eighth. The two top spots on the podium were claimed by Chen Yiwen (375.90) and Chen Jia (362.55) of China, while Alysha Koloi of Australia (335.20) finished third.
A dive that changed everything for Matt Cullen
Matt Cullen (433.85) put in a strong performance in the men’s 10m platform final, particularly during the second half of the competition. However, his second dive, which was less successful, cost him valuable points, and he finished eighth. Benjamin Tessier (402.90) also struggled with his second dive, but did not bounce back quite as effectively. He ultimately placed tenth.
Cullen, of Rosemère, lamented his performance after the competition.
“I’m a bit disappointed, of course, but I’ll look back on this experience during my future training sessions. [. . .] I have to learn to control my stress better. This is only my second World Cup, so of course I’m stressed. But I need to calm down and enjoy myself more.”
China’s Bai Yuming (543.55) and Lian Junjie (532.75) took the top two spots, ahead of Australia’s Cassiel Rousseau (498.75), the reigning world champion.
Sunday will see the last four finals of the Montréal World Cup diving competition, namely the women’s 3m synchronized and 10m events and the men’s 10m synchronized and 3m events.
