Team Canada came away with three medals in synchronized diving at the 2021 Diving World Cup in Tokyo, Japan over the weekend. Three-time Olympic bronze medalist Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal, Quebec, and Caeli McKay of Calgary, Alberta, won the gold medal in women’s 10-metre synchronized platform diving, Olympic bronze medalist Jennifer Abel of Montreal, Quebec and Melissa Citrini-Beaulieu of Saint-Constant, Quebec won the silver medal in women’s three-metre synchronized springboard diving, and Vincent Riendeau and Nathan Zsombor-Murray of Montreal, Quebec won the bronze medal in men’s 10-metre synchronized platform diving.
In the women’s 10-metre synchronized platform diving on Sunday, Benfeito and McKay posted a winning score of 305.94 points. Eden Cheng and Lois Toulson of Great Britain won the silver medal with 302.88 points. Tina Punzel and Christina Wassen of Germany won the bronze medal with 292.86 points. Benfeito and McKay reached the podium by 17.58 points over Leong Mun Yee and Pandelela Rinong of Malaysia, who had 290.70 points in fourth place. Benfeito won two of her Olympic bronze medals in women’s 10-metre synchronized platform diving at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro with Roseline Filion of Laval, Quebec. Benfeito’s other Olympic medal came in women’s 10-metre platform diving at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
In the women’s three-metre synchronized springboard diving on Saturday, Abel and Citrini-Beauileu had a silver-medal winning score of 289.98 points. Yani Chang and Yiwen Chen of China won gold with a score of 317.16 points. Elena Bertocchi and Chiara Pellacani of Italy won bronze with a score of 283.77 points. Abel and Citrini-Beaulieu reached the podium by 8.28 points over Lena Hentschel and Tina Punzel of Germany, who finished in fourth place with a score of 281.7 points. Abel won her Olympic medal with Emilie Heymans of Greenfield, Quebec in women’s three-metre synchronized diving at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
In the men’s 10-metre synchronized platform diving on Saturday, Riendeau and Zsombor-Murray had a score of 393.81 points. Tom Daley and Matty Lee of Great Britain won the gold medal with 453.6 points. Ivan Garcia and Randal Willars of Mexico won the silver medal with 405.69 points. Riendeau and Zsombor-Murray reached the podium by 0.27 points. Oleh Serbin and Oleksii Sereda of the Ukraine finished fourth with 393.54 points.
By their strong performances, Benfeito and McKay, along with Riendeau and Zsombor-Murray qualified for the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Abel and Citrini-Beaulieu already qualified by finishing second in the women’s three-metre synchronized springboard diving competition at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.
