Mandy Moran causes upset to win women’s three-metre at diving Winter Nationals

February 14th, 2009

(L to R) Jennifer Abel, Mandy Moran, & Rachel Kemp

CALGARY – Mandy Moran of Thunder Bay, On earned her first career national senior title on Saturday with a victory on women’s three-metre at the 2009 Senior Winter Nationals diving competition being held this week at the Talisman Center.

Near perfect marks on her first dive spearheaded Moran to victory with 315.40 points. Olympic team member Jennifer Abel of Laval, Que., the favourite heading in, took the silver at 305.35 and Rachel Kemp of Victoria was third at 285.90.

“I really stepped it up in the final and put in a steady performance,” said Moran, 27. “I’m surprised that I won, especially without posting my best score. I think both Jennifer and I can dive a lot better than we did today. I’ve been working on three new dives this year and I did one of them today that went fairly well. Hopefully those dives can help me reach the next level.”

The men’s 10-metre tower went down to the sixth and final round and Riley McCormick of Victoria won the gold medal with 424.50 points. Kevin Geyson of Winnipeg was second at 411.05 and Shane Miszkiel of Victoria was third at 361.40.

McCormick led by two points entering the final round and both he and Geyson ended the competition with the same twisting dive. Geyson scored 7.5’s and 8.0’s and McCormick followed with 9.0’s and 9.5’s to get the win.

‘’I won the prelims and semis with big leads but Kevin dove amazing in the final and really pushed me,’’ said McCormick, 17, 16 th in the event at the Olympics last year. ‘’I knew the situation going into my last dive. I focused very hard and got it.’’

Competition ends Sunday.

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

MEN

10-metre: 1. Riley McCormick, Victoria, 424.50 points; 2. Kevin Geyson, Winnipeg, 411.05; 3. Shane Miszkiel, Victoria, 361.40.

WOMEN

Three-metre: 1. Mandy Moran, Calgary, 315.40; 2. Jennifer Abel, Laval, Que., 305.35; 3. Rachel Kemp, Victoria, 285.9 0.

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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