‘Medals the target’ as divers plunge into FINA Diving World Cup
Canada’s best divers are in Shanghai for the biggest event of their season, the FINA Diving World Cup.
Just like FIFA’s World Cup, the aquatic version has all the top athletes from every country.
The low down
Canada has a very good women’s team. Olympic bronze medallists Roseline Filion and Meaghan Benfeito are a major threat in the 10m individual and synchro events.
At the 2014 World Series events, (diving’s six-leg elite tour), Filion and Benfeito were third and fourth respectively in the overall individual 10m rankings.
Dive Life: A training day with Canadian Olympic divers
On the 3m springboard, two to watch are London 2012 medallist Jennifer Abel and world championship medallist Pamela Ware. Both had multiple individual medals on the World Series tour and were podium dependable together in synchro.
Canadian divers chilling in Shanghai
Having a good time so far here in Shanghai 👍! Love the team ❤️ #worldcup #Canada pic.twitter.com/YeObD5VECR
— Meaghan Benfeito (@MegBenfeito) July 14, 2014
On the Diving Plongeon Canada website, Chief Technical Officer Mitch Geller was clear, “For this World Cup, we are targeting a medal in each of the women’s events.”
To do this, the four will have to contend with three Chinese women who have dominated all season, and will be performing in front of a home crowd. Wang Han and He Zi are 1-2 in the springboard rankings, with Liu Huixia tops on tower.
There are five Canadian men on the trip, Maxim Bouchard, François Imbeau-Dulac, Vincent Riendeau, Cody Yano and Philippe Gagné. According to Diving Plongeon Canada, the men aren’t expected to medal, but the experience will be valuable on the road to Rio 2016. Especially for Gagné and Riendeau, who are 16 and 17 respectively.
Schedule, Watch LIVE
Exact start times here
Day 1
Women’s 3m Synchro – Prelims / Final
Men’s 10m Synchro – Prelims / Final
Day 2
Women’s 10m Synchro – Prelims / Final
Men’s 3m Synchro – Prelims / Final
Day 3
Women’s 10m – Prelims / Semi / Final
Men’s 3m Prelims / Semi
Day 4
Women’s 3m Prelims / Semi
Men’s 3m Final
Day 5
Men’s 10m Prelims / Semi / Final
Women’s 3m Final
Follow @CDNOlympicTeam for results and Olympic.ca for full updates.
