Sparkling new Olympic venue to host 2008 FINA World Cup

February 5, 2008

Ottawa – Canada will field an 11-member team for the 2008 FINA World Cup of Diving set for February 19-24 in Beijing. It will be the last opportunity for Canadian divers to gain more spots for this summer’s Olympic Games. It is also a chance to test the new diving venue at the National Aquatics Centre, a.k.a., the Water Cube, which will host the Olympic diving events in August.

Reuben Ross of Regina and Jennifer Abel, 16, of Laval, Que., look to land a second spot for Canada on men’s and women’s three-metre respectively. The synchro tandems of Blythe Hartley of North Vancouver and Mélanie Rinaldi of Montreal on women’s three-metre synchro and Ross and Riley McCormick of Victoria on men’s 10-metre synchro are also hunting for spots.

Canada’s current status for the Olympic diving competition is explained in the 2008 FINA World Cup section on the Diving Canada website.

The other Canadian team members are Alexandre Despatie of Laval on three-metre and three-metre synchro, Émilie Heymans of St-Lambert, Que., on 10-metre and 10-metrte synchro, Nicolas Leblanc of Longueuil, Que., on 10-metre, Marie-Ève Marleau of Laval on 10-metre and 10-metre synchro, Arturo Miranda of Montreal on three-metre synchro and Kevin Geyson of Winnipeg on 10-metre.

In the individual event, team members were selected based on performances at the CAMO Invitational in December 2007 in Montreal. The synchro team selections were based on performances at the CAMO meet and at a synchro camp at the beginning of January in Montreal.

The World Cup of Diving is the third most important competition in the sport after the Olympic Games and world aquatic championships. Since the inaugural event in 1979, Canada has won 16 World Cup medals. At the last World Cup in 2006 in Changshu, China, Canada won three bronze medals: Hartley on one-metre, Heymans on 10-metre and Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion on 10-metre synchro.