Nathan Zsombor-Murray fourth, Mia Vallée compelling
Bolzano Diving Meet
Montréal, July 4, 2026 – Nathan Zsombor-Murray, Canada’s sole hope for a medal on Day Two of the Bolzano Diving Meet in Italy, finished just off the podium in the 3-meter Springboard event. Firmly in the lead after the first three rounds, Zsombor-Murray made some mistakes during his fourth and fifth dives that ultimately cost him a medal.
Halfway through the final, the Canadian diver had posted the highest score of among the Friday semi-finalists, and thus held the top spot, thanks in large part to two dives that earned him over 80 points. Only one other athlete—the event’s eventual winner, American Luke Sitz—scored higher.
His next two dives were the most difficult in his set, and sadly Zsombor-Murray botched his entry into the water. As a result, the dives earned him 41.40 and 39.90 points (respectively), which in turn caused him to slip to fifth place. The Québec diver rebounded on his sixth and final dive, but it wasn’t quite enough to secure a spot on the podium. He finished the event with a total of 381.45 points, some 40 points behind third place.
American Sitz dominated the competition with a total of 432.85 points, while England’s Ross Haslam won the silver medal (421.50), just ahead of American Carson Tyler (420.05) who came in third.
Three Canucks rule the semi-finals
Held early Saturday morning, the qualifying rounds and semi-finals of the Women’s 3-meter Springboard and Men’s 10-meter Platform events saw three Canadian athletes qualify for the finals, which will take place on Sunday.
After finishing second in the preliminaries, Québec’s Mia Vallée dominated her semi-final with a score of 300.30 points. In the same heat, teammate Margo Erlam had to settle for fourth, and was thus eliminated from the top three spots that are able to advance to the next round.
“My goal today was consistency. The biggest part of that is getting five great dives in, and I have struggled a lot with missing one dive, especially in the preliminaries. My goal today was just to hit everything and that’s pretty much what I did, so I’m really happy with that. They were judging very hard, and I was feeling really tired today, so I’m really proud that I was able to put everything together and stay consistent throughout,” commented Vallée.
Vallée also noted that it’s been quite a while since she had competed in two individual events in a single day. “I was able to remind myself how strong I was able to be, regardless of how I felt,” she added.
For Sunday’s final, Canadian intends to once again demonstrate consistency – and hopes to improve her entries into the water, as well as the execution of her spins, “I was not necessarily spinning as fast as I wanted to today,” she analyzed.
Also in action in the 3-meter Springboard event, Montréal’s Sonya Palkhivala and Saskatchewan’s Lila Stewart performed well in the preliminaries, both finishing among the top 12. However they were unable to advance to the semifinals, since they were edged out in the standings by fellow Canadians Vallée and Erlam. The rules stipulate that a maximum of two athletes per country may advance to the final rounds.
On the men’s side, the only two Canadians entered in the 10-meter Platform event – Matt Cullen and Benjamin Tessier – both delivered solid performances. Cullen, who narrowly qualified for the semifinals, took first place in his group with a total of 433.10 points. In the same semi-final, Tessier finished second with 406.95 points.
Ready to dive into more action tomorrow? No less than five finals are scheduled for Sunday, the last day of the competition. Zsombor-Murray will have a chance to redeem himself in the 3-meter Synchronized final, alongside Carson Paul. Cullen, Tessier, and Vallée will be the other medal hopefuls in the individual events.
