“Today was the toughest day of competition of my entire career” – Caeli McKay

For Caeli McKay, today’s 10m platform qualifications did not go at all as she had hoped they would, but she came back in full force in the final to clinch the gold medal at the 2024 Canadian Diving Trials, being held in Windsor, Ontario.

Although she led the qualifiers after three dives, the first of which had earned her an impressive 81.00 points, McKay struggled on her fourth plunge, collecting only 33.00 points. She came out of the qualification rounds in fourth place, with a score of 324.00 points.

Given that 50% of the points obtained by each competitor in the qualifiers is added to their overall score in the final, McKay had a tough hill to climb if she hoped to take top honours in the event.

And the 24-year-old rose to the challenge with aplomb.

Indomitable on her first three dives, McKay managed to come from behind and rejoin the race for first place. Once again, her fourth attempt fell short of expectations, but she finished the final in full force with a total score of 501.05 points, landing on the top step of the podium.

“Today was the toughest day of competition of my entire career, both mentally and physically. It was an emotional roller coaster. But I’m proud of myself, and I’m looking forward to whatever comes next! For the past three years, I’ve been working hard to establish myself as a good individual diver, and I was really looking forward to proving that here, at the Olympic trials,” said McKay, following her win.

“With the exception of two difficult dives, I think I was pretty consistent all day. That’s probably what I’m most proud of. I want to keep improving. I like competing. It pushes me to go further,” she added.

Thanks to today’s result, McKay has now met all of Diving Canada’s Olympic qualification criteria. The federation will submit her name to the Canadian Olympic Committee when the final team roster is announced in June.

Kate Miller, who led the qualifiers, placed second in the final with 484.70 points. Elaena Dick of Saskatoon completed the podium with 475.25 points.

Gold for Cédric Fofana on 1m springboard

Cédric Fofana, who placed fourth in yesterday’s 3m final, did not waste his second chance to shine at the Canadian Diving Trials, clinching gold in the 1m event on Saturday.

The Québécois, who was third at the end of this morning’s qualifiers, kicked off the final with a dive that earned him 74.40 points. He then remained consistent throughout the session, ending the competition with another excellent dive (72.00 points) that brought his total score to 566.20.

In the same event, the battle for silver was extremely heated. In the end, Calgary’s Tazman Abramowicz finished second with 537.78 points, less than one point ahead of Quebec’s Thomas Ciprick (537.43).

The 2024 Canadian Diving Trials will come to a close on Sunday in Windsor, with the men’s 10m and women’s 3m finals.