Canadian Diving Team Named for 2022 Commonwealth Games
Read the original release on Commonwealth Sport Canada.
Commonwealth Sport Canada (CSC) and Diving Plongeon Canada (DPC) today announced the ten athletes who have been selected to represent Canada in diving at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England. The diving competition will take place from August 4th to 7th at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre.
The Canadian divers were nominated based on their results from the 2022 Summer National Championships that took place May 27-29 in Victoria, British Columbia.
“The Commonwealth Games are happening at the ideal time for our young team this year and we’re expecting most of our divers to be close to delivering peak performances,” said Mitch Geller, Chief technical officer at DPC. “Some of our team members will have had the chance to warm up at the FINA World Championships starting this week in Budapest and we’re looking forward to being in a multi-sport Games environment as our younger team members prepare for Paris 2024.”
Amongst the team are Tokyo 2020 Olympians Caeli McKay (10m synchro), Celina Toth (10m), Cédric Fofana (3m), Rylan Wiens (10m) and Nathan Zsombor-Murray (10m, 10m synchro).
Four team members have also competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia: Caeli McKay, who won a silver medal on women’s 10m synchro, Celina Toth, Rylan Wiens and Bryden Hattie. Canada won six medals in diving in 2018 with one gold, four silver and one bronze medals. All diving results at the Commonwealth Games can be found online at diving.ca.
“Commonwealth Games was my first major games and one of the highlights of my career so far,” said Olympian Caeli McKay. “It’s one of the most fun events we can go too, but also a great experience for all competitors. I’m excited to have the opportunity to show all the work I’ve put in since I competed at the Olympics last summer.”
Meanwhile, Margo Erlam and Mia Vallée will be competing in their first multi-sport international event for Team Canada. They are both set to compete in the women’s 1m and 3m springboard events, as well as the 3m synchronized event. The pair already won two international gold medals in their first season as a team.
Junior national team members Renée Batalla and Benjamin Tessier are also newcomers on the senior international scene and have already demonstrated they have the ability to rub shoulders with the world’s best divers, having both won an international gold medal this season.
“Canada is a leading nation in diving at the Commonwealth Games,” says Scott Stevenson, Executive Director, Team Canada 2022. “With this group of veterans and up and comers, we anticipate the medal winning trend to continue at the Sandwell Aquatics Centre this summer.”
Birmingham 2022 will feature 19 sports and eight para-sports as part of its program with up to 4,500 athletes taking part. The Commonwealth Games are the only multi-sport event that feature equal standing for sport and para-sport events, and these 2022 Games will showcase the largest para-sport program ever. In addition, for the first time in its history, the Games will feature more medal events for women (135) than men (133).
