Divers McKay, Benfeito secure Olympic spots for Canada in women's 10m platform

Canadian divers secured two spots at next summer's Olympics on Tuesday in Gwangju, South Korea.

Calgary's Caeli McKay and Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal finished third and fourth, respectively, in the women's 10-metre semifinals. McKay amassed 356.70 points while Benfeito recorded 340.60.

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While the Olympic team has yet to be announced, the results mean Canada will have two spots in Tokyo based off Tuesday's top-12 results.

"Today was a very positive day for me. One of my main goals was to show my strength as an individual diver," said McKay, who now lives in Montreal.

WATCH | Caeli McKay places 3rd in women's 10m platform:

Caeli McKay 'excited' to secure Olympic spot for Canada

5 years ago

Duration 1:01

Canada's Caeli McKay has secured a spot for next summer's Olympics with her performance in 10m platform semifinal at aquatics worlds.

China's Yuxi Chen (407.95 points) and Wei Lu (370.85) were first and second, respectively, in Tuesday's individual event. The final is Wednesday.

On Sunday, McKay and Benfeito fell 0.81 points short of a medal in the women's 10m synchronized event.

"After my synchro event I wanted to come back strong and open a spot for my country at the Olympics. I am very proud to have done that," MacKay said. "I am pleased with my performance and I know what I need to improve for tomorrow's final."

WATCH | Meaghan Benfeito relieved to help Canada clinch Olympic berths:

Meaghan Benfeito: 'A huge weight off our shoulders'

5 years ago

Duration 0:29

Diver Meaghan Benfeito and teammate Caeli McKay have secured Olympic spots for Canada.

Benfeito has three Olympic bronze medals in her career. McKay won silver in the 10 synchro event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

"Semis were a little bit rough, the last dives weren't exactly how I wanted them to be but the goal was to make the final to open the spot for the Olympics and that's what we did," Benfeito said. "Obviously we're going to take it up a notch tomorrow for the final."

Hau-Li Fan top Canadian in men's open-water

Also Tuesday, Hau-Li Fan of Burnaby, B.C., was the top Canadian in the men's 10K open-water race, finishing 17th while Victoria's Jon Thomas McKay was 24th.

A photo finish was required to determine the winner of the Olympic qualifier, with Florian Wellbrock of Germany edging France's Marc-Antoine Olivier by two-tenths of a second to take the gold medal.

Wellbrock, 21, finished in one hour 47 minutes 55.90 seconds, shading Olivier at the finish.

Rob Muffels, also of Germany, earned bronze in 1:47.57.40.

The competition runs through July 28.