Meaghan Benfeito doubles the podium at FINA Diving World Series in Beijing
Meaghan Benfeito stood on the podium twice after winning a pair of bronze medals at the FINA Diving World Series in Beijing, China.
Benfeito earned her first medal of the day in the women’s 10m platform event. The Montreal native scored a total of 336.40 to earn the bronze. Her first dive landed her in fourth place, but she was able to improve to third on her next go and held onto it through the rest of the competition.
Chinese divers Jiaqi Zhang Qian Ren stood on the podium alongside her, taking the top two spots in front of a home crowd. Zhang was crowned first place with a score of 400.05, while teammate Ren won silver with 371.20 points.
Up next for Benfeito was the mixed 10m synchro, where she shared the diving platform with Nathan Zsombor-Murray. Together, they were able to put up an impressive score of 300.96.
Russian duo Nikita Shleikher and Iuliia Timoshinina finished in second place with 301.26, while Chinese divers Yajie Si and Junjie Lian impressed the home crowd yet again with a gold medal score of 346.38.
This is Benfeito’s third bronze medal of the weekend. She and partner Caeli McKay won bronze on the opening day of the event in the women’s 10m synchro.
READ: Double bronze for synchro divers at World Series in Beijing
They were joined on the podium that day by men’s diving duo Philippe Gagné and François Imbeau-Dulac, who won bronze in the 3m springboard.
Overall, Canadian divers have been making waves in Beijing’s National Aquatics Centre. Jennifer Abel found herself on the podium twice on Friday in the women’s 3m springboard, and again in the 3m synchro event with partner Imbeau-Dulac. She won bronze in both events.
READ: Abel stands on podium twice at FINA Diving World Series in Beijing
This concludes the Beijing stop of the FINA Diving World Series, where Canada earned a total of six bronze. It will pick up again April 26-28 at Parc Olympique in Montreal in its third of five legs.
