Plongeon Canada’s Chief Technical Director proud of his team

(Paris) Canada continued its streak of Olympic diving success at the Paris Games, winning at least one medal for the eighth consecutive Games.

The adventure started well with the bronze medal won by Nathan Zsombor-Murray and Rylan Wiens on July 29 during the men’s synchronized event on the 10-meter platform.

It was the first time Canada had won a medal in men’s platform and it was Canada’s first men’s diving medal since the 2008 Beijing Games, when Alexandre Despatie won silver on three-metre springboard.

Unfortunately for the Canadian team, the harvest did not continue during the fortnight in Paris. The country therefore had to settle for a single medal in diving at its second consecutive Olympic Games.

Caeli McKay and Kate Miller finished just over five points off the podium in the women’s synchronised 10-metre platform event. McKay also finished fourth in the individual event.

Young Margo Erlam was eliminated in the preliminaries on the three-metre springboard, while Zsombor-Murray and Wiens each managed a top 10 in the individual 10-meter tower event, but came up short of another medal.

“I think we had a small team, but a powerful team,” Diving Canada chief technical director Mitch Geller told The Canadian Press. “They were very focused and very committed. Yes, it was heartbreaking to finish short of the podium in the women’s 10-metre synchro.”

“But in the position we were in, we got some good results despite the size of the team. I’m quite proud of what they achieved,” he added.

Geller also acknowledged that the failures at the last aquatic worlds in Qatar this winter had an impact in Paris. Those poor performances limited Canada’s spots in some events and completely excluded it from the synchronized three-metre springboard event, where Quebecers Pamela Ware and Mia Vallée could have represented a medal hope in Paris.

“In sports, you have to continually adapt to the unexpected and maximize every opportunity that comes your way,” Geller said. “Coming back from Worlds, we knew we were down one medal shot. That was tough to take. But then we tried to maximize every opportunity and came close time and time again.”

China continued its dominance in diving in Paris. After winning seven of eight gold medals at the 2021 Tokyo Games, it made it a clean sweep by going 8-for-8 in the French capital.

In total, Chinese divers won 11 medals out of a possible 12, leaving other nations to fight for the remaining 13 medals.

“I think a very, very important factor is success in recruiting, in identifying talent,” Geller said. “But another huge factor is the constraints of each country.”

Geller recalled that the focus is on Olympic performance in China, sometimes at the expense of other aspects of life, such as education and quality of life.

“How much commitment can you ask of an 8-year-old kid in Canada? If we could put him through six or eight hours of training a day, then yes, I’m sure we would see a higher level of production,” Geller said.

For Geller, the question is also how far Canada’s desire to invest and make sacrifices to have Olympic success in diving can go.

“Right now, we are overshadowed. Everyone is overshadowed by what China is willing to do, compared to the investments that we can make. So we have to be very strategic and efficient. We have to find innovative ways in developing our athletes in the hopes of achieving the same level of performance with less investment.”

Despite China’s dominance and the size of Canada’s team at the Paris Games, Geller remains optimistic about the future.

Zsombor-Murray, the only Quebecer on the Canadian team in Paris, said he hoped the bronze medal would serve as an inspiration to the next generation, to whom he hopes to pass the torch one day.

Geller also believes the medal will have an impact when the team returns to Canada.

“It’s kind of like when Alexandre Despatie had his success, you have to believe in yourself first, then change people’s perspective,” Geller said. “The goal goes from just wanting to be at the Olympics to winning a medal or having an exceptional performance. I think that’s what the team reinforced here.

“I’m expecting a very interesting Olympic cycle. I think the young divers have seen what they are capable of. When you see the people you share the pool with in training competing with the best in the world day in and day out, it builds your confidence in your abilities. You realise that you too can achieve something exceptional.”

The rest of the story will be written in four years, in Los Angeles.