(Montreal) Quebecers Pamela Ware and Mia Vallée won the bronze medal in the 3-meter synchro final on Friday at the Montreal Diving World Cup.
Unsurprisingly, China — the reigning world champion — topped the event with 329.43 points, followed by the United States at 315.09. Ware, from Greenfield Park, and Vallée, from Beaconsfield, collected 302.61 points in the competition, which was held at the Olympic Park sports center pool.
The Maple Leaf representatives looked pleasantly surprised with their result. It must be said that they had no expectations after starting to train together for this event only a few days ago.
Their place on the podium was decided on the fifth and final lap, when the Canadians were just over two points from third place.
Ware and Vallée then landed their double and a half forward somersault with a twist, stealing third place from the Australians, who finished less than a point (301.77) behind them.
Last season, Vallée was paired with Margo Erlam of Calgary, and they notably won the bronze medal in the 3m synchro at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England.
The coach of the Canadian team, Mary Caroll, had also pointed out earlier this week that Ware, Vallée and Erlam will be rotated in this competition, in order to find the best possible combination while waiting for the return. at the swimming pool of Mélissa Citrini-Beaulieu, still injured.
Earlier in the afternoon, the Canadian duo of Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Rylan Wiens could not continue their momentum from last year after settling for seventh place in the 10m synchro event. .
Meanwhile, Bryden Hattie of Victoria, B.C. easily qualified for the 3m springboard final on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Caeli McKay of Calgary and Celina Toth of St. Thomas, Ont., advanced to the 10m final on Sunday. Renee Batalla of Edmonton, however, was ruled out.
The Montreal Diving World Cup will continue Saturday and Sunday. This is the first international competition to take place there since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March 2020.
This diving competition is also the only one scheduled on the international calendar before the World Championships, which will take place in Fukuoka, Japan, from July 14 to 22.
