(Budapest) Nathan Zsumbor Murray of Pointe Claire and fellow Saskatchewan Raylan Wiens brought the country its first medal in the diving competitions held at the FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary. On Tuesday, the Canadian pair took the bronze in the men’s 10m synchronization with a total of 417.12 points.
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Chinese candidates Lian Junjie and Yang Hao (467.79) were crowned world champions ahead of Britain’s Matthew Lee and Noah Williams (427.71).
“It’s no surprise, because we knew we could, but I’m so proud. This is the first time Canadians have won medals at the Men’s World Championships and I’m proud to be part of this team! Raylan and I have worked so hard to make it happen,” admitted Zsombor-Murray , who was diving with Wiens in international competition for only the second time.
Collusion developed rapidly among athletes, Quebec added in an interview with Sportcom. “We are friends outside of sports and have the same interests, so the chemistry is there.”
Zsombor-Murray and Wiens showed great consistency in their six rounds. From a three-way tie with the Germans and Ukrainians after the first dive, the Maple Leaf reps slipped to sixth on the second dive, before returning at the height of the fight.
The two teammates showed good synchronization on the third pass, good for 78.72 points, which allowed them to climb to fourth place, half a point ahead of the Ukrainians.
Their fourth dive, a four-and-a-half forward somersault in the tuck position, the toughest on their list, finally made the difference. The Canadians did very well in the well-timed maneuvers. Although the Quebecers splashed a little when entering the water, their performance earned them 84.36 points, increasing their lead over the Ukrainians by less than 10 points.
It’s a big dive for us. It was still good, but we didn’t do it to the best of our abilities. This was diving hit or miss. It was enough to take the bronze.
Nathan Zsumbor Murray
The Canadian pair were consistent again in the last two dives with scores of 79.56 and 79.68 to withstand the pressure to escape the promised bronze, even though the Ukrainians finished with their best result in the competition (79.68).
“We were nervous before the last dive, but we had to dive really well,” continued the athlete, relieved once the competition was over, even if his final standings had not yet been confirmed.
Zsombor-Murray will return to the 10m podium on Saturday in the singles event.
On Wednesday, Beaconsfield’s Mia Valley will make her debut in these 2022 worlds when she scores in the qualifying for the 1-meter starting point.
Water polo: a victory that feels good
At the same time, a little less than 200 km south of the Hungarian capital, the Canadian women’s water polo team played its first classification match (places 9-12) against Kazakhstan. The team led by Montrealer David Paradillo won 19-11.
Canada narrowly led 3-2 after the first quarter and then widened the gap to 9-5 in the first half. The break did not slow down the Canadians, who scored another ten goals, while the Kazakhs narrowed it to six points in the second half.
Three Canadians scored four goals in this match, including Quebec’s Axel Crever. Emma Wright and Hailey McVeigh are the other two. Feriva Pacock scored twice, while Chey Laroche, Kelly Mackie, Gurpreet Sohei, Ray Likens and Kira Christmas scored.
Amanda Amorosa didn’t score twice with her shot on target and Clara Volpesi was the reserve goalkeeper for Ontario’s Jessica Gudriault, who maintained the Canadian net for the occasion.
Canadian polo players play their last game of the tournament on Thursday against New Zealand in a match for ninth place.
Natalie Sinclair is a contributor at Vaughantoday.ca, covering a wide range of topics including local news, politics, business, technology, sports, entertainment, and lifestyle. She focuses on delivering clear, accurate reporting and useful information that helps readers stay informed about current events and issues that matter to their communities. Her work highlights timely developments, relevant stories, and practical insights in a professional and reader-friendly manner.