Rachel Kemp of Victoria fifth on women’s tower at diving Grand Prix

Rachel Kemp

MOSCOW, Russia – Rachel Kemp of Victoria placed fifth Saturday on women’s 10-metre tower and just missed earning her first career medal on the FINA Grand Prix diving circuit.

Kemp, the world junior championship bronze medallist in the event last year, placed second in the preliminaries and third in one of two semifinals on Thursday to advance to the six-woman final.

The 16-year-old Commonwealth Games team member in 2006 was forced to alter her list this week as painful wrists made it impossible for her to do her armstand dive.

“Not being able to do the armstand reduced the level of difficulty of her list,” said Kemp’s coach Tommy McLeod. “She had to replace it with a much easier dive and that put her at a distinct disadvantage. It wasn’t something we had planned for but still it turned out to be a close competition.”

Competition ends Sunday. Melanie Rinaldi of Montreal competes in the women’s three-metre springboard final.

About the FINA Grand Prix
Held since 1995, the FINA Grand Prix is similar in format to the World Cups in alpine skiing and speed skating. This season there are five stops, including the Canada Cup from April 30-May 3 in Montreal, Quebec.

After two FINA Grand Prix's this season, Canada’s medal tally sits at two: (1 Gold, 1 Silver).

About Diving Plongeon Canada
Diving Plongeon Canada (DPC) was established in 1967 as a not-for-profit organization to promote the growth and awareness of the sport in this country. As a member of FINA, the world’s governing body of aquatic sports, DPC contributes to the development of globally accepted standards of excellence in diving and supports the rules and regulations of international competition. Representing nine provincial diving associations, 67 local diving clubs and close to 4,000 high performance athletes, DPC shares a national commitment to advance the art and sport of diving and to position Canada as the number one diving nation of the world.  For information, visit www.diving.ca.

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