Filion and Benfeito win gold at FINA diving Grand Prix

May 8th, 2009

Roseline Filion & Meaghan Benfeito

FORT LAUDERDALE- If Roseline Filion of Laval, Que., and Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal needed a break from their busy schedule it wasn’t apparent on Friday as they won the gold medal on women’s synchronized 10-metre at the fifth stop on the FINA Grand Prix diving circuit.

Competing internationally for the fourth straight week, Filion and Benfeito placed first with 314.64 points for their second victory this season on the Grand Prix circuit. Monique McCarroll and Megan Sylvester of Britain were second at 310.62 and Kaylea Arnett and Michelle Cabassol of the U.S., third at 289.92.

“Considering the circumstances we came through with a very strong performance,” said Filion. “We only had a 10-minute warm-up because the men’s tower ran too long plus we didn’t practice synchro all week in order get some rest.”

Filion and Benfeito competed last week at the Grand Prix stop in Montreal and the previous two weeks at the last two stops on the World Series circuit in Mexico City and Sheffield, England. They are Canada’s busiest divers this season competing at eight events and earning seven medals as a pair and five more between them on individual tower.

“We’ve been diving together for four years now and I think our experience kicked in today,” said Benfeito. “We showed that we know how to compete and respond to pressure. The best example of that were the strong scores we received on our fourth dive which we’ve struggled with this year.”

The victory capped a sparkling day overall for the Canadian team.

On men’s 10-metre tower, 17-year-old Riley McCormick of Victoria advanced to Saturday’s final winning his semifinal heat with 499.50 just ahead of British teenage phenom Thomas Daley at 493.50. Kevin Geyson of Winnipeg was sixth in the same semi and does not advance.

“I was a little disappointed not to crack the 500 point barrier but winning my semifinal makes up for that,” said McCormick who scored 9.5’s on his reverse dive and 8.5’s on his back three and half which had been giving him trouble all season. “This is a very strong field and I’m excited to see what I could do with this kind of performance in the final.”

On women’s three-metre, Jennifer Abel of Montreal, 17, rebounded from a 14 th place in the preliminary round to win her semi heat to advance to Saturday’s final with 327.60 points. Mandy Moran of Calgary was fourth in the same semi and does not advance.

The four individual finals are all on 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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