TORONTO, March 25, 1999
Montreal teenager Etienne Gauthier earned a first career Canadian title Thursday winning the men's one metre springboard event to open the Winter Nationals diving competition being held at the Etobicoke Olympium.

Gauthier, 16, earned a personal best 367.62 points which is the fourth highest in Canadian history for one metre. Arturo Miranda of Toronto took the silver at 363.87 and Jeff Liberty of Calgary was third at 353.37.

Two-time defending champion Igor Kopecky of Calgary is out with an injury.

"I'm finding it hard to believe I won," said Gauthier, the runner-up at last year's summer nationals. "I just decided today I was going to go out there and have fun. I had a plan and went out and did it."

In the six-round final, Gauthier landed two key dives: he executed for the first time in competition a back 1-1/2 with 2-1/2 twists for mostly 7.0's out of a possible and 10 and his best score was a string of 8.0's on a reverse 2-1/2.

The four-day competition is also a qualifier for the Can-Am-Mex portion of the Grand Prix series which kicks-off next month with the Canada Cup International April 29-May 2 in Montreal.
(note du webmestre : nous vous présenterons les résultats de ce Grand Prix du Canada à chaque soir, comme nous l'avons fait en décembre dernier pour le Championnat International CAMO Invitation.
The results of the Canada Cup International will be available on this site every night from April 29 to May 2)

One of the most anticipated battles this weekend is in the women's 10 metre tower which features six-time national champion Anne Montminy of Pointe-Claire, Que., 1997 World Cup champion Myriam Boileau of Montreal and current world number-four Emilie Heymans, 17, of Montreal.

Heymans, is also currently number-two internationally on three metres and Boileau is ranked fifth. However there is a notable absentee this week on women's three metres as 1997 World Cup champion Eryn Bulmer of Calgary is taking a break from competition.

On the men's side, world number-six Philippe Comtois of Montreal is heavily favored on men's three metres with Liberty his top challenger while 13-year-old Commonwealth Games champion Alexandre Despatie of Montreal is ranked first on tower but can expect stiff opposition from Vancouver's Tony Revitt and Montreal's Christopher Kalec.

The women's one metre final is Friday at 4 p.m., the women's tower and men three metre finals are Saturday starting at 2 p.m. and the men's tower and women's three metre finals go Sunday at 2 p.m.

Louis Daignault
Canadian Sport News/ Nouvelles-Sport Canadien

Nos remerciements à Isabelle Cloutier du Club de plongeon CAMO et à Louis Daignault de Nouvelles-Sport Canadien pour les résultats et commentaires des athlètes.

du Championnat Canadien de l'Hiver 1999

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