Jennifer Abel wins women’s one-metre at diving Winter Nationals

February 13th, 2009

Jennifer Abel

CALGARY – Olympic team member Jennifer Abel of Laval, Que., struggled with her new dive but held on to win the gold medal on women’s one-metre on Friday at the 2009 Winter Senior National diving championships being held this week at the Talisman Centre.

The 17-year-old Abel totalled 273.10 points in the final to successfully defend her winter nationals’ title in the event. Angelina Kroupko of Edmonton took the silver at 261.45 and Mandy Moran of Calgary was third at 253.50.

Abel added a difficult reverse two and half to her list on one-metre this season and it gave her trouble in both the preliminaries and final.

‘’I’m very pleased to get the win,’’ said Abel, third in the prelims. ‘’My reverse dive was actually much better in the final but I still need to work on it. With the one-metre being a medal event at the world championships (later this summer in Rome) this is going to provide me with some valuable experience.’’

In the women’s 10-metre synchro final, Olympians Roseline Filion of Laval, Que., and Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal registered one perfect 10 en route to the gold with 315.12 points. Sisters Carol-Ann Ware and Pamela Ware of Montreal were second at 273.00.

‘’We’ve only practiced four times together this year so it was a good start for us,’’ said Benfeito, seventh at the Games with her partner in the event. ‘’Our synchronization was bang on but our individual dives, especially the entries need some work.’’

In the men’s three-metre synchro final, Brandon Makinson and Cody Kolodziejzyk of Calgary won the gold with 367.74 points. Demis Longoni and Olivier Morneau-Ricard of Ste-Foy, Que., were second at 313.71 and Cole Miller and Tyson Hillman of Regina were third at 300.54.

‘’We were only 13 points from the qualifying score for the Canada Cup Grand Prix which was much better than we expected,’’ said Makinson, 17, a year younger than his partner. ‘’We hit almost all of our dives in the final. We started diving together last year and I’m glad we’ve kept it going.’’

Competition continues through to Sunday.

Friday’s medallists at the 2009 Winter Senior National Championships diving competition in Calgary:

MEN

Three-metre synchro: 1. Brandon Makinson and Cody Kolodziejzyk, Calgary, 367.74; 2. Demis Longoni and Olivier Morneau-Ricard, Quebec City, 313.71; 3. Cole Miller and Tyson Hillman, Regina, 300.54.

WOMEN

One-metre: 1. Jennifer Abel, Laval, Que., 273.10; 2. Angelina Kroupko, Edmonton, 261.45; 3. Mandy Moran, Calgary, 253.50.

10-metre synchro: 1. Roseline Filion, Laval, Que., and Meaghan Benfeito, Montreal, 315.12; 2. Carol-Ann Ware and Pamela Ware, Montreal, 273.00

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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