Pamela Ware: back on her game
Montréal, May 7, 2023 – Today was a day of celebration for Team Canada at the Montréal World Cup, as three medals were won: silver for Pamela Ware in the 3m; silver in the mixed team competition; and bronze for Nathan Zsombor-Murray in the 10m. Yet despite the clearly fabulous medal haul, Ware’s was likely the one that stood out the most.
Pamela Ware will probably remember her experience at the 2023 edition of the Montréal World Cup for a while – and for all the right reasons. After two difficult years following the Tokyo Olympics, the Québec diver placed second in the 3-metre springboard event with a total of 365.40 points.
Ware finished behind China’s Yiwen Chen (404.70 points) and ahead of American Sarah Bacon (357.85 points). The other Canadian finalist, Mia Vallée, finished in ninth place (296.00 points).
“Honestly, it feels so good, especially to do this at home in front of my family. I know they’re really proud of me. My mom was crying…and so was I! I know there were a lot of people who doubted me after what happened in Tokyo, but I’ve worked so hard in the last year, both physically and mentally,” commented Ware, 30, adding that she had the “best weekend of competition in her life.”
Today’s silver medal is in addition to the bronze medal she earned in the 3m synchro with Mia Vallée on Friday. Yet above and beyond the medals, it’s a renewed sense of both pride and confidence that the athlete will cherish over the coming months: “I think I showed this weekend that I’m back and that I’m here to stay!”
A few hours later, the Montrealer was again a silver medallist – this time in the mixed team competition with Caeli McKay, Bryden Hattie and Nathan Zsombor-Murray. The Canadian foursome trailed Team China by 34.35 points, but beat out Australia, who took home the bronze.
For her part, Mia Vallée was disappointed with her individual performance on three-metre springboard. “Maybe mentally I wasn’t there 100% today (Sunday), but I’ll take this as a learning experience and come back stronger for the World Championships selections in three weeks.”
Now in the big leagues: Nathan Zsombor-Murray
Nathan Zsombor-Murray (507.45 points) demonstrated today that he can heat up the board alongside world’s elite on the tower! The Pointe-Claire athlete was in a stiff competition for the silver medal until the very end, only to be beaten by Japan’s Rikuto Tama (513.45 points); the gold went to China’s Hao Yang (580.25 points).
The Quebecer shone in his second dive on the tower, when he received four perfect 10s. “Underwater, I could hear the crowd cheering, so I knew it was a good dive. It’s quite a unique feeling. This medal is exciting! I feel like it’ll give me courage and motivation to continue, and it definitely tells me that I’m capable of earning an individual international medal, not just in synchro,” noted the 20-year-old diver.
Also in the women’s 10m, Caeli McKay placed fifth with 320.95 points; in this dive series, China’s Hongchan Quan (458.20 points) and Yuxi Chen (438.90 points) successfully did the double.
“I got a good result – the competition was of high caliber and I’m proud of what I did. I did miss a few dives and could have been a little more aggressive though. I was aiming for a top-five finish and I would have liked to be on the podium but it just wasn’t my day,” said the Calgary native who was still happy to finish the competition on a high note.
Veteran diver Celina Toth (307.15 points) of Victoria finished in seventh place, and will now focus her efforts on her entry in the water, in order to maximize her chances of qualifying for the World Championships and Pan Am Games – two multi-sport events she has never competed in.
In the men’s 3m final, Bryden Hattie, also of Victoria, placed ninth.