Focusing on the process rather than the result, and allowing himself some experimentation led Boardworks diver Bryden Hattie to double gold at the Summer Senior National Diving Championships at Saanich Commonwealth Place.
Looking to forget a sub-par winter nationals, the 20-year-old captured the menB次元官网网址檚 three-metre springboard event on Friday (May 27), injecting a new dive, an inward 3-1/2 somersault, into his six-dive mix. He attempted the dive in preliminaries then nailed it in the final, scoring 79.90 points to solidify the gold.
B次元官网网址淚n prelims it didnB次元官网网址檛 go well, I landed short, but I also learned it last Thursday,B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淕oing into finals I was like, B次元官网网址榡ust land on your head and just be confident with itB次元官网网址� and thatB次元官网网址檚 what I did. That was the one dive where I just said, B次元官网网址榮end it, absolutely send it.B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址�
His total of 442.30 left him 23 points clear of silver medallist Cedric Fofana of MontrealB次元官网网址檚 CAMO club and well ahead of CAMOB次元官网网址檚 Laurent Gosselin-Paradis, who took bronze.
Hattie, diving in front of friends and family for the first time in over two years, added one-metre gold Saturday, totalling 404.70 to FofanaB次元官网网址檚 380.40, while CalgaryB次元官网网址檚 Tazman Abramowicz earned bronze at 373.95. The Saanich athlete secured spots in next weekB次元官网网址檚 FINA Diving Grand Prix-Canada Cup in Calgary, and the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, July 28 to Aug. 8.
Despite feeling confident before winter senior nationals in Saskatoon in April, Hattie said he B次元官网网址渁bsolutely bombedB次元官网网址� the competition B次元官网网址� he finished fourth in the one-metre and failed to qualify for finals in the three-metre.
B次元官网网址淪o I was super nervous for this event, I was like, B次元官网网址業B次元官网网址檓 not going to repeat what I did in Saskatoon.B次元官网网址� I think the mindset that I had was, I know that IB次元官网网址檓 very consistent diver, so (I needed to) kind of get out of the competition feel and think of it like a practise.B次元官网网址�
Ten-metre platform specialist Renee Batalla, a Grade 10 student at Claremont secondary, captured a third gold medal for the host club on Saturday, beating out Tokyo Olympians Caeli McKay, who took silver and Boardworks clubmate Celina Toth, who collected bronze.
Batalla went into the event simply looking to stand on the podium with the two veterans, who she called B次元官网网址渢ruly amazing divers.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檝e known that theyB次元官网网址檝e both worked really hard, so it was very shocking to be like, B次元官网网址榰m, my nameB次元官网网址檚 not in the right spot,B次元官网网址橞次元官网网址� she said. B次元官网网址淚t was really good, but they were very strong competitors this weekend.B次元官网网址�
While Batalla wasnB次元官网网址檛 as flashy as her opponents, she showed consistency. B次元官网网址淚 was on my game, had the ball rolling and it just wound up playing out well for me.B次元官网网址�
Her total score of 314.85, highlighted by a solid reverse 2-1/2 that earned her 75.60 points, gave her a narrow margin over McKay (311.85), who scored a competition-best 81.60 on her final dive, a backward 2-1/2 somersault, 1-1/2 twist.
Toth was not far back, finishing at 306.35 to edge Katelyn Fung for bronze by less than one point.
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In other events, Rylan Wiens of Sakatoon was the picture of consistency in the menB次元官网网址檚 10-metre platform final Sunday. The 20-year-old athlete won a duel with fellow Tokyo Olympian Nathan Szombor-Murray of Pointe-Claire, Que. to take top spot.
Along the way Wiens posted the top mark (99.90) of the competition, scoring 9.0s across the board with a forward 4-1/2. Szombor-Murray, the only other competitor to attempt the dive, scored 90.65.
Bronze medallist Benajmin Tessier of CAMO reeled off two solid dives late in the final to solidify his position, including a backward 3-1/2 that earned him three marks of 10.0 and a 95.70 score.
Boardworks athlete Carson Paul, who placed fifth, drew the biggest cheers from the partisan crowd in the afternoon final, especially on his first dive, a backward 2-1/2 somersault, 1-1/2 twist for which one judge scored him a 10.
CAMOB次元官网网址檚 Mia Vallee earlier Sunday won her second gold of the weekend, coming from behind with a strong final dive in the three-metre final to edge SaskatoonB次元官网网址檚 Margo Erlam 335.20 points to 333.95. Olympian Pamela Ware (CAMO) took bronze, yielding a 1-2-3 finish that duplicated SaturdayB次元官网网址檚 one-metre final.
Tanesha Lucoe of Boardworks finished fourth in the one-metre, while clubmate and junior athlete Keira Lu placed sixth. Lu did not advance past preliminaries in the three-metre and finished 12th.
Diving Canada has not yet announced its team for the upcoming FINA World Championships, scheduled for late June in Budapest, Hungary.
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