Benfeito and Filion strike gold on day one of diving; Emerging as leaders of the Canadian team

For the third time in it's history, the Royal Commonwealth Pool in Edinburgh, Scotland, has played host to the top divers in the Commonwealth. Ten gold medals will be awarded at the venue over the next four days, the first of which went to Canada in the women's 10-meter synchronized event.

While day one of competition experienced some technical glitches, the fans in attendance were treated to a fine display of skill and athleticism.

Selected to dive first in the women's 10-meter synchronized event, the Canadian pair of Roseline Filion (Laval, QC) and Meaghan Benfeito (Montreal, QC) had to endure various moments of delay as essential data handling equipment seemingly malfunctioned between rounds. While forced to overcome the unexpected interruptions, Benfeito and Filion were keenly aware of the elite level of competition they were facing in Edinburgh. Amongst the field were four of the five top ranked teams in the world by FINA; Canada - 2nd, Malaysia - 3rd, Australia - 4th, and England (GB) - 5th.

"It was a tough event for everyone. I knew it was going to be close," said Filion.

The Canadian pair ran into a bit of trouble when they missed their 4th dive which dropped them into 3rd place heading into the final round. Even with the missed dive and trailing both England and the Malaysians, Benfeito knew a golden moment was never fully out of reach.

"Our last dive is our strongest one and if we nailed it we knew we could be on the podium," said Benfeito

"Anything can happen. Its' definitely not over until the last dive. We showed that today no matter how you dive or you compete and you think its' over, you have to give everything until the end of the event and try to do as best as possible", said Benfeito. 

Heading into the final round with the gold medal in doubt, the pair was surprisingly upbeat about their season overall. 

"Going into the last round I was thinking that even though we aren't winning, we had an amazing year together," said Filion.

Fast-forward to the end result and having the Commonwealth Games gold medal in hand, the girls fully reflected on their body of work and what they had accomplished in 2014.

"Its' our first time after 9 years together to have medalled in every international competition of the season. We went 8 for 8 this year, which is pretty cool", said Filion.

The English pair of Tonia Couch and Sarrah Barrow finished in 2nd, while the Malaysian team of Pandellela Rinong Pamg and Nuh Dhabitah Sabri took bronze.

Veteran pair now leading by example

At the ripe old ages of 25 (Benfeito) and 27 (Filion), Canada's perfect-podium-pair are the senior members of the Canadian diving team at the Games. While it is a new position for them to be in, they have taken to the leadership role naturally and are imparting wisdom they have collected while competing on the international scene for a decade.

"This is actually new for us as we were used to being the babies on the team. Now being the more experienced ones, its' fun because [younger athletes] ask a lot of questions, are curious, and may not fully know how to deal with a huge Games event like the Commonwealth Games," said Filion. 

"I am privileged because I got to live all these experiences early on and can now try to help all these up-and-comers perform better and handle the pressures that will come their way," added Filion.

Both Filion and Benfeito are back in the pool tomorrow competing in the individual 10-meter tower event. Once completed, you can bet that they will be found on deck cheering and supporting the next generation of Canadian divers here at the Royal Commonwealth Pool.

Diving continues through to August 2nd in Edinburgh.