Victoria's Riley McCormick wins gold at CAMO Invitational diving competition

December 6 , 2009

Riley McCormick

MONTREAL – Riley McCormick of Victoria earned at least one 9.0 on four of his six dives in the final to win the gold medal on men’s 10-metre tower on Sunday at the CAMO Invitational diving competition held this week at Centre Claude-Robillard.

McCormick, a member of Canada’s 2008 Olympic team, placed first with 481.60 points finishing ahead of surprise silver medallist Marc Sabourin-Germain of Montreal with a personal best 413.95 and Eric Sehn of Edmonton at 407.35.

The competition was also a qualifying event for the first two FINA Grand Prix events in 2010.  Sabourin-Germain has put himself in strong contention for his first career spot on a national team.

“I’m really proud,” said Sabourin-Germain, who bettered his personal best by 60 points.  “I’ve worked hard since the start of the season on being consistent and today it paid off.”

Other Canadian medallists this week were for the women:

On three-metre: Jennifer Abel of Montreal and Mandy Moran of Calgary, first and third.

On three-meter synchro: Abel and Melanie Rinaldi of Montreal first and Carol-Ann Ware and Pamela Ware of Montreal second.

On 10-metre:  Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal, Roseline Filion of Laval and Rachel Kemp of Victoria 1-2-3.

On 10-metre synchro: Benfeito and Filion first and the Ware sisters third.

For the men:

On three-metre: Reuben Ross of Regina, François Imbeau-Dulac of Montreal and McCormick 1-2-3.

On three-metre synchro: C.J. Moore and Brett Gillis of Kitchener, Ont., third.

The event also featured age group competitors and with more than 240 entries, the CAMO Invitational is the biggest diving meet in North America.

On Sunday, Eloise Bélanger of Montreal earned her second victory in the 14-15 age group placing first on women’s three-metre.  She also won the platform event on Saturday.

Vincent Riendeau of Pointe-Claire, Que., collected his third medal of the competition winning the boys one-metre in the 12-13 age group while Monica Gavaris of Montreal and Frédérique Lalonde of Montreal finished 1-2 in the girls 12-13 platform.

Other Canadian age group winners this week were: Sabrina Beaupré of Montreal in the 16-18 three-metre and Philippe Gagné of Montreal in the 12-13 platform.