Canadian diver Ware earns bronze in 3m springboard at world aquatics
Longueuil, Que. athlete has now earned 4 world aquatics medals over her career
Energized by an 11-hour sleep, Montreal diver Pamela Ware could feel she had something special in store on Friday.
"I woke up this morning and I honestly felt so good," she told The Canadian Press. "I got to the pool and the first jump I did on the board I was like, 'yeah, today's gonna be a good day,' — and it was."
Ware produced five straight solid dives en route to winning a bronze medal in the three-metre springboard at the FINA World Aquatics Championships.
The 30-year-old finished with 332.00 points after five dives, a little more than nine points behind silver medallist Chang Yani (341.50) of China.
Chen Yiwen, also from China, won gold with a cumulative score of 359.50 points.
It was Ware's fourth career podium finish at the FINA world championships and her first since winning silver in the same discipline in 2015.
WATCH | Ware returns to the world aquatics podium:
At this year's competition, Ware posted a fourth-place finish in the one-metre springboard, missing the podium by less than a point. She also had a fifth-place showing in the three-metre synchronized springboard, missing the top three by 1.77 points with her partner Mia Vallee.
But Ware didn't come into the competition worried about bringing home medals.
The 2020 Olympian has been on a run of good form in recent months. In May, she won three medals, including a silver in the individual three-metre, at a World Cup event in Montreal.
At the Tokyo Games, she missed a dive in the three-metre event, eventually leading to her taking a step back to re-evaluate the way she went about training.
The Canadian spoke with CBC Sports reporter Devin Heroux after the event and shared what her last two years have been like.
"I was traumatized by it for about a year," she said. "I wanted to quit but I didn't want to quit."
Ware says her renewed enjoyment of diving is the reason for her success this year.
"I'm just enjoying the process again. I'm having fun with everything," she said. "I'm doing everything that I need to do to achieve my goals and I think that's just the key is just really enjoying myself again and getting through everything with a smile and having fun."
Ware gives credit to her new coach Hui Tong for helping her have fun again.
"He's only been my coach for a year and a half, but we have an excellent relationship," she said in a press release. "Before I dive in a competition, he smiles at me on the springboard, which gives me a boost.
Ware's performance in the three-metre springboard ensures Canada will have a representative in the discipline at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
It was Canada's second medal in Fukuoka. Calgary's Caeli McKay also won bronze in the 10-metre platform event on Wednesday.
On Saturday, Nathan Zsombor-Murray of Pointe-Claire, Que., competes in the men's 10-metre platform final after placing ninth in the semifinal on Friday.
Then the Canadian divers will fly to Berlin, Germany, for the World Cup Super Final from Aug. 4-6.
Men's water polo team falls to France
Also Friday, Canada's men's water polo team dropped its final group stage match with a 15-11 loss to France.
Canada placed third in Group B at 1-2 after previously beating China and losing against Italy.
It hung tough against France, never ceding too much ground, but couldn't quite find that extra goal when it was most needed in the second half.
The Canadians now move on to the Round of 16 for a match against the U.S., which placed second in Group A at 2-1, on Sunday at 1 a.m. ET.
Live coverage of the world aquatics championships continues Friday at 9 p.m. ET with the artistic swimming mixed duet free program on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
With files from CBC Sports
