Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Rylan Wiens will dive in Paris
February 8, 2024 – Divers Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Rylan Wiens have demonstrated great consistency on Thursday during the 10m synchronized event at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar. Their 388.20 points enabled them to finish the competition in fifth place, but more importantly, secured their spot for the Olympic Games in Paris.
Therefore, Zsombor-Murray and Wiens have imitated Caeli McKay and Kate Miller, who accomplished the same feat in the women’s final on Tuesday.
“A huge weight just fell off our shoulders. That was our main goal at the World Championships. Now, we can breathe better!” said Nathan Zsombor-Murray.
“We can check that from our list! I was really nervous during the competition, but we did everything we had to do. Nathan was the only person that I wished to live this moment with,” added Rylan Wiens.
After three excellent dives to start the day, the Canadian duo raised their level of play for their fourth dive, earning them 79.92 points. That dive was the round’s second best, and placed Canada in a 3rd provisional position.
The divers from Ukraine and Mexico gave all they had for their last two dives, finishing ahead of the Canadians in the final standings. Zsombor-Murray and Wiens finished fifth with 388.20 points.
“I didn’t know our scores nor our position in the standings during the final. I did have a feeling that we were in a good position, because we were diving well. I was confident, but it was stressful because we knew we had to perform well on every dive to get the best possible results,” noted Zsombor-Murray.
On his side, Wiens couldn’t resist looking at the provisional standings before the last dive, and that ultimately had a positive effect on him.
“I actually thought we were lower in the standings before the last dive. I looked up to the scoreboard, and noticed we were in provisional 4th place. I asked Nathan if he wanted to know, and he stopped me right away! It took a bit of pressure off, knowing we didn’t need to end the competition perfectly,” continued Wiens.
Junjie Lian and Hao Yang, from China, won the gold with 470.76 points. The British duo of Thomas Daley and Noah Williams (422.37 points) earned the second position, while Ukrainians Oleksii Sereda and Kirill Boliukh (406.47 points) finished third.
Nathan Zsombor-Murray will participate in the Olympics for a second time, after finishing in fifth place in the synchronized event in Tokyo, partnering with Vincent Riendeau. As for Rylan Wiens, his qualification for the Olympics is a dream come true.
“Winning a medal, we’ll keep that for the Olympic Games,” proudly added Rylan Wiens.
The diving duo will be back in action this Friday as they head for the individual 10m preliminary competition.
On the women’s side, Pamela Ware and Mia Vallée took part in the 3m qualifying event. Ware finished 25th with 238.10 points, while Vallée followed from close in 29th place. They will not participate in the semi-finals, scheduled for Friday.
