CANADIANS STORM PODIUM IN SANTIAGO
Montréal, October 22, 2023 – Canada’s divers pulled out all the stops on Sunday at the Pan-American Games in Santiago, Chile, in their bid to conquer the podium. Pamela Ware and Mia Vallée finished first and second in the 1m springboard competition, while Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Rylan Wiens won silver in the men’s 10m synchronized event.
Ware picked up right where she had left off this past summer, displaying remarkable consistency on the 1m springboard on Sunday to claim the top spot on the podium, with 280.25 points.
She finished the competition beautifully with a score of 58.50 points on her final dive—the same score she had obtained on her previous dive.
“I’m so happy, and I’m so proud of myself and of Mia. I wasn’t feeling that great after the preliminaries this morning, but I managed to make a fresh start afterward. I’m a bit surprised, but very proud,” said Ware. “My aim was to execute my dives well, and I focused on the adjustments my coach suggested. It’s a great confidence booster, and I’m feeling very confident about my upcoming events.”
Today’s medal was Ware’s first individual Pan-American medal. She was a member of the Canadian team in Toronto in 2015 and in Lima, Peru, in 2019.
Mia Vallée had an excellent start to the day, earning scores of 57.20, 63.55 and 60.00 on her first three dives of the final. However, the athlete from Beaconsfield encountered a few difficulties on her fourth attempt, which cost her precious points. Nevertheless, Vallée rallied on her final dive, securing the silver medal with a total of 272.30 points.
“I’m incredibly happy with what I did today. I’m a bit disappointed that I didn’t win the gold medal because I messed up my easiest dive, but this was the first competition in more than a year where I really felt like myself. That makes me very happy. I’ve been working on my mental training over the past few months, and this is really encouraging,” said Vallée.
Hailey Hernandez of the USA completed the podium behind the two Canadians, with 261.75 points.
In the qualifying rounds, Vallée had finished first and Ware had finished third.
Silver for Zsombor-Murray and Wiens
As they prepared for the 10m synchronized final at the Pan-American Games, Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Rylan Wiens were not able to train together as often as they would have liked, as Wiens was sidelined with a number of injuries this past summer. However, none of that was apparent at the Santiago Aquatic Centre, where the two Canadians secured the second spot on the podium.
Zsombor-Murray and Wiens kicked off the day with a bang, scoring 54.00 on their very first dive, which quickly put them in provisional first place.
Things got a bit thorny on their third attempt, but they quickly put it behind them and ended the day on a high note, earning 85.47 points for their fourth dive.
“Because of Rylan’s injuries, we’ve only been able to practice on the 10m together twice in the past few months. I’m very happy with our performance. Our synchronization was excellent. It bodes well for the upcoming Olympic year,” said Zsombor-Murray.
“I’m very happy with this medal! I was sidelined for most of the season, and I really missed the spirit of competition. I was nervous, but things ultimately went well. We were strong at the beginning and again at the end, and I think that’s what made the difference,” added Wiens.
The Canadian pair finished with a total of 404.04 points. Only Kevin Berlin and Randar Willars of Mexico managed to outscore them, with 419.94 points.
Alejandro Solarte and Sebastian Villa of Colombia (383.19 points) completed the podium.
On Monday, Thomas Ciprick and Bryden Hattie will compete in the men’s individual 3m event, while Caeli McKay and Kate Miller team up for the women’s synchronized 10m platform competition.