Reuben Ross and Meaghan Benfeito earns victories at diving Winter Nationals

January 30th, 2010

Reuben Ross

ETOBICOKE - Reuben Ross of Regina and Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal won the men’s three-metre and women’s 10-metre tower respectively on Saturday at the Winter Nationals diving competition being held this week at the Etobicoke Olympium.

On men’s three-metre, Ross delivered a solid performance for the gold with 439.80 points for his third consecutive Winter Nationals crown. He received a strong challenge from François Imbeau-Dulac of Montreal who took the silver at 426.60 while Eric Sehn of Edmonton was third at 413.00.

Over the past couple of seasons, Ross has been among Canada’s busiest divers competing on springboard, tower and the synchro events. This season he will focus solely on three-metre and three-metre synchro with Canadian diving legend Alexandre Despatie of Laval.

‘’Most of the best divers in the world are focusing on one board,’’ said Ross, whose goal is to be ranked in the top-eight in the world on three-metre at the end of this season. ‘’It’s what you have to do to break into that elite group.’’

Ross also introduced a new twisting dive to his list on Saturday. It received mixed reviews from the judges with marks ranging from 5.5 to 7.0 out of a possible 10.

‘’I was pleased with it,’’ said Ross. ‘’It was a little bit better than in practice and it shows good potential as a closing dive for my list.’’

On women’s tower, Benfeito, fourth at the world championships last year, earned her first career national title tabulating 366.05 points. Rachel Kemp of Victoria was second at 345.35 and defending champion Roseline Filion of Montreal was third at 335.30.

‘’I was disappointed with my performance in prelims (she was fourth) but I knew what I needed to do to improve,’’ said Benfeito, 20. ‘’So I came back today with a more consistent performance and my entries were particularly strong. I’m really pleased with my scores, I couldn’t ask for better at this point in the season.’’

Meanwhile, Nicolas Beaupré of Montreal and Pamela Ware of Montreal won the trial event for the Youth Olympic Games regional qualifier placing first on men’s three-metre and women’s tower respectively. They will head to Mexico to try and qualify for the inaugural Youth Olympics this August in Singapore.

Competition ends Sunday.

For more information visit: www.diving.ca

Saturday’s leading results at the Winter Nationals diving competition in Etobicoke, Ont.

MEN

Three-metre final: 1. Reuben Ross, Regina, 439.80; 2. François Imbeau-Dulac, Montreal, 425.60; 3. Eric Sehn, Edmonton, 413.00; 4. Riley McCormick, Victoria, 404.40; 5. Shane Miszkiel, Victoria, 372.40; 6. Maxime Morneau-Ricard, Quebec City, 371.70; 7. Cody Kolodziejzyk, Calgary, 344.10; 8. Brandon Makinson, Calgary, 330.35.

WOMEN

10-metre final: 1. Meaghan Benfeito, Montreal, 366.05; 2. Rachel Kemp, Victoria, 345.35; 3. Roseline Filion, Montreal, 335.30; 4. Carol-Ann Ware, Montreal, 305.25; 5. Celina Toth, London, Ont., 298.05; 6. Janie Potvin, Laval, Que., 272.20; 7. Lauren Penko, Winnipeg, 259.60; 8. Laurence Vallee, Montreal, 207.35.

Trials for Youth Olympic Games, August 14-26 in Singapore

MEN

Three-metre: 1. Nicolas Beaupré, Montreal, 498.60; 2. Matthew Fyfe, Montreal, 457.30; 3. Cole Miller, Regina, 445.60.

WOMEN

10-metre: 1. Pamela Ware, Montreal, 438.75; 2. Rachel Kemp, Victoria, 434.75; 3. Carey Chen, Vancouver, 342.30.

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