Third place for McCormick and Ross at diving Grand Prix

May 7th, 2009

Reuben Ross & Riley McCormick

FORT LAUDERDALE – Reuben Ross of Regina and Riley McCormick of Victoria placed third in the men’s 10-metre synchro final on Thursday to open the fifth stop on the FINA Grand Prix diving circuit.

David Boudia and Thomas Finchum of the U.S., were first at 457.26 points, Max Brick and Thomas Daley of Britain were second at 423.48 and Ross and McCormick followed at 381.90.

The Canadian pair were scheduled to compete last weekend at the Grand Prix stop in Montreal but Ross decided to pass on the tower events due to an injury. They have competed together on and off since June 2007.

In the women’s three-metre synchro final, Jennifer Abel and Melanie Rinaldi, both of Montreal were fourth. Olympic champions Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia of China won the gold medal with 335.10 points.

It was a busy day for Ross who also advanced to the final on men’s three-metre placing second in his heat behind American Troy Dumais. Eric Sehn of Edmonton, 23 rd last year at this Grand Prix stop, was third in the other semi to qualify for his first career Grand Prix final.

Two more Canadians are headed to finals on women’s 10-metre tower, as Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal and Roseline Filion of Laval, Que., placed second and third respectively in the second semifinal heat with 326.45 and 313.85 points. Chen Ruolin of China won the heat with a 393.85 score.

‘’I was really pleased with my performance today,’’ said Benfeito. ‘’If I can be this solid in the final it should go very well.’’

Benfeito and Filion have been Canada’s busiest divers this year competing in their eighth event this year. They were 1-2 on tower at last week`s Grand Prix.

‘’It wasn’t a super great day for me so I really want to come back with a much stronger final,’’ said Filion about Thursday’s performance. ‘’There were two dives in particular I should have done a lot better. This is the fourth week in a row we`ve competed and I think there is some fatigue there.’’

Competition continues through to Saturday.

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.

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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