Diving World Cup in Montreal | Mia Vallée skips her turn, Pamela Ware wants to redeem herself

(Montreal) After poor performances at the FINA World Aquatics Championships which deprived the Canadian team of a ticket to the Paris Olympic Games on the synchronized 3-meter springboard and a second place on the individual 3-meter springboard , divers Mia Vallée and Pamela Ware chose different approaches to bounce back.

Vallée has decided to put an end to the first stage of the Diving World Cup, presented from Thursday to Sunday at the Olympic Park in Montreal. For his part, Ware hopes to quickly burst the abscess by redeeming himself in front of relatives and friends.

“You have to adapt to new information, changing circumstances and recognize that you have to do things differently, because they certainly didn’t go the way we hoped at the Worlds in Doha,” stressed the chief technical director of Diving Canada, Mitch Geller, Tuesday.

Ware ranked 25^e rank during the individual event on the 3 meter springboard and Vallée, at 29^e step. They therefore did not even reach the semi-final.

Then in the synchronized 3-meter springboard event, Ware missed her takeoff at the end of the springboard on their final jump and fell into the pool, feet first. They had to settle for 15^e rank and were thus deprived of their ticket for the Paris Games this summer.

“I think she underestimated the environment she was going to find herself in in Doha, the pressure she was going to feel and other factors that she was not prepared to face,” Geller said of of Ware. It was a major and very long event. The judges were harsh. It was very difficult emotionally.

“She had difficulty adapting to synchro and individual. His preparation had often been interrupted. But it was even worse than we could have anticipated,” admitted Geller.

Ware preferred not to give interviews before the World Cup in Montreal, wanting to limit distractions before the events. She wanted to avoid having to revisit her poor performance in Doha.

The Greenfield Park native missed a jump in a similar manner during the semi-finals of the individual 3-meter springboard event at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. Ware took a break from the sport afterward, before to resume activities more seriously in 2023.

Ware, who is 31 years old, shone during the 2023 Diving World Cup season, accumulating five medals, in addition to winning bronze at the Worlds in Fukuoka in July.

“We thought she had overcome the trauma associated with Tokyo. She had been able to bounce back, Geller said. It’s not like there were many signs.

“It’s now a big worry for her,” he added. But she has a lot of experience.”

Geller recalled that Ware was not the only diver to miss such a jump in competition. He also noted that she seemed comfortable in practice.

The real test will take place this weekend, under the watch of his loved ones.

Tiredness for Mia Vallée

Regarding Vallée’s absence, Geller spoke of fatigue management to be reviewed.

A student at the University of Miami, Vallée competed in the U.S. national championships and experienced excessive fatigue. She then did what was necessary at the Canadian championships to qualify for the Worlds.

“I think skipping the World Cup in Montreal is the right decision,” Geller said. So soon after Doha, there wasn’t much added value in competing in another competition without changing the training regime. »

Vallée, from Kirkland, won silver in the individual 3-meter springboard event at the Worlds in 2022. The 22-year-old diver won bronze in the synchronized 3-meter springboard event alongside Ware at the World Cup in Montreal in May 2023. They also won silver in August at the World Cup Super Final in Germany in August.

In addition to Ware on the 3-metre springboard, Caeli McKay, an Albertan who now lives in Montreal, and Kate Miller, of Ottawa, will be ones to watch this weekend on the 10-metre platform.

On the men’s side, Nathan Zsombor-Murray of Pointe-Claire and Rylan Wiens of Pike Lake, Sask., will look to continue their momentum after finishing ninth and fifth, respectively, on the 10-metre platform in Doha. They also took fifth place in the synchronized 10-meter platform event.