Benfeito, Zsombor-Murray win diving gold at World Series event in Montreal

MONTREAL — Veteran Meaghan Benfeito and prodigy Nathan Zsombor-Murray won the mixed 10-metre synchro platform on Saturday in front of a roaring home crowd at the FINA Diving World Series event in Montreal.

“It didn’t feel like an event at first because I’m at my home pool and it feels like I’m just training,” said Zsombor-Murray, a native of Pointe-Claire, Que. “But I started to get a little nervous when the event started.”

Benfeito, a three-time Olympic medallist and 29 years-old, noticed her younger teammate appeared grumpy during the first two dives, so she told him to let loose and enjoy the moment.

“The key was to really try to make him realize that he needs to have fun to dive well,” said Benfeito, who added that Zsombor-Murray may have finished the competition better than she did.

The Canadians scored 322.08 points, edging Mi Hwa Kim and Il Myong Hyon of South Korea who earned 320.58 points. Russia’s Iuliia Timoshinina and Nikita Shleikher placed third with 299.82 points.

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It was Benfeito’s second medal of the day, she also won bronze earlier in the women’s 10-metre platform (354.65 points), surpassed by winner Qian Ren, of China, who scored 395.85 points. Yajie Si completed the 1-2 punch for China by taking the silver medal with 377.65 points.

Victoria’s Celina Toth did not advance out of her semifinal, and was 11th (293.15 points).

In the men’s three-metre springboard, two Canadians made the final with Olympians Francois Imbeau-Dulac of Saint-Lazare, Que., finishing fifth (448.45 points), and Philippe Gagne a spot behind with 430.55 points.

The Canadian Press