March 28 , 2010

Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion

QINGDAO, China – Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal and Roseline Filion of Laval, Que., won the bronze medal in the women’s 10-metre synchro event on Sunday to conclude the first stop on the FINA World Series diving circuit.   

It was a second bronze for Benfeito who took third spot on Saturday in the individual 10-metre tower.   

Ruoli Chen and Hao Wang of China completed an incredible comeback to win the gold medal with 330.00 points.  The Chinese pair bombed on their first dive and they were still sixth after the second round before charging up the standings. 

Anabelle Smith and Briony Cole took the silver at 325.32 and Benfeito and Filion were third at 324.72.  It was another good start to the World Series for the Canadian pair which won three medals on the circuit last year for third overall.

“The biggest improvement for Meaghan and Roseline was on their first two compulsory dives,” said Mitch Geller, Diving Canada’s chief technical officer.  “They were much more precise and had clean entries.  In the past they were usually playing catch-up after those dives, today they were in the lead.  They came in with a strong list and showed they can be a medal potential at any level meet.”   

On women’s three-metre springboard, world champion He Zi of China won the gold with 389.55 points.  Australian Sharleen Stratton was second at 323.40 and Krug Cassidy of the U.S., third.  

Jennifer Abel of Laval, Que., was in medal contention the entire final and took fifth spot with 319.90.  Three-time Olympic medallist Emilie Heymans of St-Lambert, Que., was eliminated in the semifinals and ranked seventh overall. 

Abel puts a nice touch on a rough month in which she battled an illness, had her wisdom teeth removed and dealt with an injury.  Heymans, who is battling a hip injury, experienced a mishap on her third dive when she put her feet over the board and went off balance.  She finished strong but it wasn’t enough to advance. 

The next stop on the circuit is in two weeks in Mexico.

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