New Canadian diving tandems win gold, silver at Grand Prix
Abel, Citrini-Beaulieu win springboard while Benfeito, McKay 2nd in platform
Jennifer Abel and new partner Mélissa Citrini-Beaulieu won gold in the women's synchro three-metre springboard at the Grand Prix opener in Rostock, Germany on Sunday.
Abel and Citrini-Beaulieu were the second new Canadian team to win a medal Sunday after Meaghan Benfeito and Caeli McKay won silver in synchro 10-metre platform.
Abel, a two-time Olympic from Laval, Que., was pleased that the new partnership with Citrini-Beaulieu, a 21-year-old from St. Constant, Que., started strong as the pair collected 304.08 points.
"Today it was very nice to see that when she was standing beside me we felt that energy," Abel said. "We felt that we were both there to have the same goal."
Inge Jansen and Celine van Duijn of the Netherlands were second at 285.30 and Germany's Lena Hentschel and Friederike Freyer were third at 281.40.
Montreal's Benfeito - who had a long and successful partnership with the recently retired Roseline Filion - and Calgary's McKay finished with 301.80 points, second to the impressive 327.84 posted by Chinese tandem Zhang Jiaqi and Zhang Minjie.
Christina Wassen and Elena Wassen of Germany were third at 285.93.
"I've never done synchro on 10-metre before so I didn't really know what to expect," McKay said, "I had a lot of adrenalin and I was really nervous but it was fun."
At 27-years-old, Benfeito is 10 years older and a three-time Olympian, so she coached McKay through the competition from their first dive to their last.
"I kept telling her 'It's like a practice Caeli, it's like a practice.' She was really fun to compete with, she's hilarious to be honest."
Also on Sunday, Vincent Riendeau of Pointe-Claire, Que. qualified for the men's 10-metre platform final and finished sixth with a score of 391.50.
Canadians earned four medals in the season opening Grand Prix, including a bronze for Abel on springboard and a bronze for Benfeito on platform on Saturday.