EIGHTH PLACE AND LEARNING EXPERIENCE FOR CAELI MCKAY AND KATE MILLER
Montréal, July 16, 2023 – Caeli McKay and Kate Miller faced a considerable challenge in Sunday’s 10-metre synchronized final at the World Championships in Fukuoka, Japan. And although they had hoped for better than eighth place, the Canadian diving partners believe the experience will benefit them in the future, as they pursue their quest to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games.
McKay and Miller, who earlier in the day had placed fourth in the preliminaries, were unable move up in the final. With a total score of 279.93 points, they finished eighth in the event, which was dominated by China (369.84), Great Britain (311.76) and the USA (294.42), who took the three top spots, respectively.
“Our goal was to take it one dive at a time and to focus on the elements we could improve as we went. Things didn’t turn out quite as we had hoped, but I think we learned a lot about ourselves and our partnership today (Sunday),” said McKay, following her second international competition with her young teammate.
As a seasoned veteran, the 24-year-old didn’t hesitate to offer important advice to Miller, who is competing in her first World Championships in Fukuoka. It’s a stressful and challenging experience, but a necessary one, according to McKay, who also went through it early in her career.
“Kate is only 18 years old, and she’ll learn a lot as she goes, because there are a lot of new challenges ahead for her, especially mental ones. I told her to use today to find something to build on for the future. She has to experience and deal with her feelings. It’s really difficult, but it will be beneficial in the long run,” explained the Tokyo Olympian.
According to McKay, several key elements will prove helpful to the pair, who kicked off their international career with a fifth-place finish at the World Cup in Montréal last May. In addition to having gained useful experience this week, the two Canadians will be able to step up their training schedule upon their return home, especially since Miller will be based in Montréal for the entire Paris Olympic qualification process.
“We’ll work really hard all year, and I’m not worried about the future. We have good chemistry, and I think we just need to practice together every day. Our increased training pace will definitely allow us to improve and take things to the next level,” concluded McKay, who has yet another event on her World Championships schedule this week.
The Albertan’s next competition will be the individual platform event, but prior to that, she will cheer on her Canadian teammates Mia Vallée and Pamela Ware as they vie for a spot on the podium in Monday’s 3-metre synchronized event.