Canadian diving team
finalized for the Olympic Games
WINNIPEG- Philippe Comtois of Laval, Que., and Myriam Boileau of Pointe-Claire,
Que., added their names to Diving Canada’s nomination list for the Olympic
Games on Sunday with second place finishes at team trials.
Joining them on
the list are Alexandre Despatie of Laval and Christopher Kalec of Montreal
for the men and Émilie Heymans of St-Lambert, Que., and
Blythe Hartley of North Vancouver for the women.
On Sunday on men’s
three-metre, Despatie, ranked number-one in the world, won the gold medal
posting a Canadian record in this scoring format with 1,264.44
points. The highlight was four perfect 10’s from the judges on his
third dive, a reverse three and half.
‘’
I made hardly any errors it was one of my best showings no doubt,’’ said
Despatie, 18, who also won the 10-metre event on Friday. ‘’I
was really happy to get the big marks on the reverse dive. It’s
one of my hardest dives and I had been having some trouble with it of
late.
Comtois also enjoyed one his best ever performances
finishing second at 1,129.83, also a personal best score.
His best before then was at
the Canadian
championships
in 1995. Comtois made the 1996 Olympic team but in 2000 a serious leg
injury warming up for a meet in Sheffield, England crushed his hopes
to compete
in Sydney and nearly ended his career.
‘’
It was an extraordinary day,’’ said Comtois, 27, who
has been battling a very sore shoulder this week. ‘’Even
if I wouldn’t have
made the team, I think I would have been still pretty happy with
how I dove. It was the best performance of my life. My training had
gone really well leading
up to the trials. I still feel I’m learning to dive and learning
to compete.’’
Arturo Miranda of Pointe-Claire was third
at 1,106.25.
On women’s tower, Heymans, the world champion
in the event, executed three fantastic dives and two subpar ones
in the final for the win at 976.26.
Boileau gained the second Olympic spot with 879.63 while Marie-Eve
Marleau of Montreal was third at 838.95.
‘’
I’m glad it’s over,’’ said Heymans,
who also qualified on three-metres on Friday. ‘’I’d
like to have those two dives back, I wasn’t happy about
that. It’s a reminder that I have to
keep working hard in training for the Olympics. I have to arrive
in Athens and perform to the very best of my abilities.’’
Boileau
has been one of Canada’s top international divers for
10 years. But she fell short in landing Olympic berths in 1996
and 2000. Plus she had
a major setback in 2002 when she underwent back surgery.
‘’
When I get back to my room I think I’ll have a very good cry,’’ said
Boileau, 26. ‘’With all the work I’ve put in the sport in
my life there was no way I was going to give up on my Olympic dream. Today
I was rewarded.’’
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