Gagne, Leathead earn second gold at Speedo Jr. Elite Canadian Diving Nationals
Gagné, Leathead earn second gold at 2013 Speedo Junior Elite Nationals
THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Philippe Gagné and Felix Leathead, both of Montreal, earned a second individual gold medal on Saturday them teamed up to win the three-metre synchro crown at the 2013 Speedo Junior Elite Nationals diving competition.
Leathead broke a Canadian record in the 14-15 age group earning 488.90 points to win the three-metre springboard. Peter Thach Mai of Montreal was second at 459.90 and Connor Cunningham of Pointe-Claire, Que., third at 431.70.
‘’This is a lot of fun for me, it’s the first time I beat a record,’’ said Leathead, also the platform winner on Friday. ‘’My objective was a top-two finish so I could make the junior Pan Am team. The key to the record was scoring well on my front two and half.’’
The competition is also a team trial for the Pam Am Junior diving championships this September in Tuscon, Arizona.
In the men’s 16-18 age group one-metre, Gagné was first with a season-best 514.60. Vincent Riendeau of Pointe-Claire was second at 484.85 and Dylan Grisell of Etobicoke, Ont., third at 463.10.
In women’s competition, Melissa Citrini-Bealieu of Montreal was a double winner placing first on three-metre and three-metre synchro with Frederique Lalonde of Montreal.
Citrini-Beaulieu scored 490.40 in the individual final with Samantha Maiorino of Pointe-Claire second at 467.20 and Courtney Hattie of Victoria third at 460.48.
On one-metre in the 14-15 division, Dominique Cadieux of Edmonton was the winner at 373.20 with Caeli Mckay of Calgary second at 363.00 and Emily Schmidt of Victoria third at 344.25.
‘’I felt like I didn’t miss a dive and that kept me confident,’’ said Cadieux. ‘’I didn’t have a good preliminaries so I just focused on what I needed to improve for the finals.’’
Full results at: http://www.issmembership.com/diving/live/schedule.aspx
Competition ends Sunday.
Jeff Feeney
Events and Communications Manager
Diving Plongeon Canada
Tel: 613 736 5238 x 2101
