Filion and Benfeito notch silver, Olympic spot at world championships

Filion and Benfeito notch silver, Olympic spot at world championships

KAZAN, Russia – Canadian divers Roseline Filion of Laval and Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal won the silver medal on women’s 10-m synchro and earned an Olympic spot for Canada in the event on Monday at the FINA World Championships.

Ruolin Chen and Huixia Li of China were the victors with 359.52 points, Filion and Benfeito followed at 339.99 while Un Hyang Kim and Nam Hyang Song of North Korea were third at 325.26. The top-three finish means Canada is guaranteed an entry in the event at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

"We were ready for a solid performance like this," said Filion, who won Olympic bronze with Benfeito in the event in 2012. "In addition we delivered our best performance at the most important event of the year. we couldn’t be happier."

It was Canada’s third silver medal of the competition. On Saturday, Jennifer Abel of Laval and Pamela Ware of Beloeil, Que., were second on three-metre synchro as were Benfeito and Vincent Riendeau of Pointe-Claire, Que., on 10-m mixed synchro.

On Tuesday, Philippe Gagné of Montreal and François Imbeau-Dulac of St-Lazare, Que., compete on men’s three-metre synchro.

Full results: http://www.omegatiming.com/Competition?id=00010F0006FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF&;sport=AQ&year=2015