July 23rd, 2011

Jennifer Abel

SHANGHAI – Jennifer Abel of Laval, Que., earned her second medal in diving at the FINA World Aquatic Championships on Saturday placing third on women's three-metre springboard.

Minxia Wu of China won the gold with 380.85 points, her compatriot He Zi was second at 379.15 and Abel followed at 365.10. Earlier this week, Abel and Emilie Heymans of St-Lambert, Que., took the silver on women's three-meter synchro.

Abel was second after Friday's semifinals. Back in 2009, she was also second after the semis and tumbled to 11th in the final

''This was the hardest competition I've ever been involved in,'' said Abel, 19, who was competing outdoors for the only the fourth time in her career. ''But today I showed all the hard work I've put into it has really paid. I was able to manage my stress really well and that helped me improve a lot.''

While she put the heat on her Chinese opponents at this competition, it is not a factor Abel dwells on.

''The main objective for a diver is to improve every time out,'' said Abel. ''But today I proved a lot of things.''

Heymans, the defending silver medallist, was 12th in Saturday's final.

''It was one of my worst performances in quite some time,'' said Heymans, a three-time Olympic medallist, who was fourth after the semis. ''I'll have to take a step back and see what happened. Still I showed I can deliver a solid performance in the semifinal.''

By reaching the finals, Heymans and Abel also earned two spots for Canada in the event at next summer's Olympic Games.

On men's 10-metre tower, Riley McCormick of Victoria was 11th in the preliminaries then eighth in the semifinal to reach the 12-man final. With that result, McCormick also grabs a spot for Canada for the London Games.

Eric Sehn of Edmonton was 15th in the prelims and 18th in the semis and did not advance to the final.

Bo Qiu of China leads after the semis with Sasha Kelin of Germany second and Victor Minibaev of Russia third.

Diving competition ends Sunday with the men's tower final.

Visit www.aquaticfederation.ca for full event & broadcast schedule.

Media Guides: available at www.aquaticfederation.ca

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