GWANGJU, South Korea (Team Canada) – The duo of Celina Toth and Carol-Ann Ware won the gold medal in 10-metre synchronized platform dive on Monday at the Summer Universiade in Gwangju. It is the first medal for Canada at these Games.
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The two divers had not trained together before this week. Celina Toth (University of Victoria) was also competing for the first time in synchronized diving.
"I was very nervous at the beginning," admitted Toth, a native of Victoria, B.C. "Our coaches kept telling us that we had a chance. We took it a dive at a time and our confidence grew. We worked very hard all week – it's very exciting. We're very happy to win it for our country."
Ranked third after the first round of five, the Canadians rattled off three fantastic dives to move comfortably into first place. The pair won the gold by a margin of 15.42 points. South Korea took second place while China rounded out the podium.
"I am amazed and still in shock," said Montrealer Carol-Ann Ware (University of Concordia) moments after her final dive. "We worked very hard to earn this medal. Despite the long day yesterday, we concentrated on this competition and we knew that we could do better."
Toth finished just off the podium in the individual 10-metre event on Sunday. Ware followed in sixth. "I was amped up after yesterday and didn't sleep very well." said Toth. I believe that my excitement to compete helped me get through."
The last time that Canada won a medal in diving at the Universiade was in 1999 at Palma de Mallorca, Spain. At that Games, Canada took one silver and two bronze. The last gold medal came in 1993 when Olympian Anne Montminy won the 10-metre platform event in Buffalo.
McLean finishes seventh
After placing first in the semi-final to begin the day, Cameron McLean (Texas A&M) of Winnipeg, Man., had a difficult evening and finished seventh in the final of the 1-metre springboard.
McLean will join Celina Toth to compete in the mixed team event on Thursday.
About the Summer Universiade
The Summer Universiade is an international multi-sport event that takes place every two years and is second only to the Olympic Games in the number of participating athletes and countries. The Universiade is open to competitors who are at least 17 and less than 28 years of age as of January 1 in the year of the Games. Participants must be full-time students at a post-secondary institution (university, college, CEGEP) or have graduated from a post-secondary institution in the year preceding the event.
About Canadian Interuniversity Sport
Canadian Interuniversity Sport is the national governing body of university sport in Canada. Every year, over 11,500 student-athletes and 700 coaches from 56 universities and four regional associations vie for 21 national championships in 12 different sports. CIS also provides high performance international opportunities for Canadian student-athletes at Winter and Summer Universiades, as well as numerous world university championships. For further information, visit www.cis-sic.ca or follow us on:
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