MONTREAL 鈥� Top Canadian diver Pamela Ware is looking for redemption this weekend after a world championship to forget earlier this month.
Following a stellar 2023 season that included five World Cup medals, a world championship bronze and three medals (two gold, one silver) at the Pan American Games, Ware finished 25th in the individual three-metre event and experienced some d茅j脿 vu in the synchronized dive.
The 31-year-old from Montreal missed her takeoff and dropped feet-first into the pool to score a zero 鈥� a scene reminiscent of a missed dive at the Tokyo Olympics that caused her to step away from the sport for a season.
In Doha, Ware and teammate Mia Vallee of Beaconsfield, Que., ultimately finished a disappointing 15th and failed to secure a quota spot for this summer鈥檚 Paris Olympics.
"We thought we'd overcome a lot of the distress that she left Tokyo with,鈥� Diving Canada chief technical director Mitch Geller said of Ware on Wednesday at the Olympic Pool. 鈥淪he seemed to have it all together there.鈥�
"Obviously, it's a big concern, it's a big concern to her," he added. 鈥淏ut also, she鈥檚 pretty experienced.鈥�
While Vallee is taking some time away to focus on training, Ware is right back at it this weekend as Montreal hosts the first World Aquatics Diving World Cup of the season.
Ware requested not to speak with the media Wednesday after her missed dive in Doha, but Geller says she wanted to get another competition under her belt.
"She's comfortable here,鈥� Geller said. 鈥淚 think she wanted to come in and possibly have a little redemption from the experience in Doha.
鈥淔rom what I see, she's diving OK, she's doing OK there.鈥�
With the same cast of competitors as at the worlds, Geller sees this weekend鈥檚 competition as a perfect stage for Ware and his team to redeem themselves from an unusual podium-less showing on the international stage.
鈥淟ooking around the pool, we just came back from Doha, and I feel like all we've done is change the venue,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he same faces are there.聽
"I'm going to be interested to see how everybody responds to those world championships."
A LOOK AT THE REST
On a more positive note, Calgary鈥檚 Caeli McKay and Ottawa鈥檚 Kate Miller booked their spot in the Paris Games with a sixth-place finish in the 10-metre synchro in Doha.
With the relief of having that secured, they鈥檙e excited to enjoy their weekend in front of a home crowd while fine-tuning their dives.
"It's a little bit hard to have fun when you're really fighting for an Olympic spot," McKay said. "Our family is going to be here to watch and we're going to be able to try and implement the big changes that we want to do on our dives here at home."
Canada has also secured one quota spot in the women鈥檚 individual 10-metre.
In the men鈥檚 10-metre, Canada has earned three quota spots for Paris so far 鈥� two individual and one synchro.
Rylan Wiens of Pike Lake, Sask., earned an individual spot with a fifth-place finish in Doha after missing almost three months last year with a back injury.
Wiens, 22, then teamed up with 20-year-old Nathan Zsombor-Murray of Pointe-Claire, Que., to place fifth in the 10-metre synchro.
Despite booking their tickets to Paris, Wiens says they have no plans of letting up while keeping the goal of an Olympic podium in mind.
"You can always look at it like 'I've made the Olympics, now I can just coast,' but for me, it's a step along the way," he said. "The real goal is at the Olympics, me and Nathan, we want to obviously get a synchro medal, and then possibly an individual medal as well."
Wiens and Zsombor-Murray previously won bronze as a pair in the 10-metre synchronized dive at the 2022 world championships, a first in that event in Canadian diving history.
Competition in Montreal opens with women's three-metre and men鈥檚 10-metre preliminary rounds on Thursday. Men鈥檚 three-metre and women鈥檚 10-metre preliminaries follow on Friday, along with a team event final.聽
Finals for the men鈥檚 three-metre synchro, women鈥檚 10-metre synchro, men鈥檚 10-metre individual and women鈥檚 three-metre individual take place Saturday.聽
And competition wraps up Sunday with the women鈥檚 three-metre synchro, men鈥檚 10-metre synchro, men鈥檚 three-metre individual and women鈥檚 10-metre individual finals.
The event features over 120 divers 鈥� including 12 Canadians 鈥� from more than 20 countries.
CANADA鈥橲 TEAM
Women 鈥� Caeli McKay (10 m, 10 m synchro), Kate Miller (10m, 10 m synchro), 脡lo茂se B茅langer (10m), Pamela Ware (3m), Am茅lie-Laura Jasmin (3m), Aimee Wilson (3m, 3m synchro) and Margo Erlam (3m synchro).
Men 鈥� Nathan Zsombor-Murray (10 m, 10 m synchro), Rylan Wiens (10 m, 10 m synchro), Benjamin Tessier (10m), Bryden Hattie (3m) and C茅dric Fofana (3m).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 27, 2024.
Daniel Rainbird, The Canadian Press
