Canadians Abel, Imbeau-Dulac earn bronze in mixed synchro at diving World Series
Duo bumped out of 2nd by Australians on last dive
Olympians Jennifer Abel and Francois Imbeau-Dulac earned Canada's first medal of the World Series season on Saturday in Beijing with a bronze in mixed synchro three-metre springboard.
Abel and Imbeau-Dulac teamed up for the first time since last May and posted a score of 304.74 points.
The Canadians were bumped out of second place by Australia's Maddison Keeney and Domonic Bedggood on the last dive.
The Aussies scored 305.34 and the victorious Chinese team of Han Wang and Zheng Li registered 323.10 points.
"I personally love doing synchro with her," said Imbeau-Dulac of St. Lazare, Que., "It was just so much fun getting back together."
The medal came a few hours after Abel missed the podium in her individual event.
The Laval, Que., native opened the night with a score of 316.95 points in the springboard final.
China went 1-2 in the event with Tingmao Shi scoring 391.05 points for gold, and her teammate Yani Chang a step down with 330.35. Australia's Maddison Keeney was third with 327.85 points.
"I think it's important to always see what went wrong and what went well," said Abel. "Otherwise every day is going to be a mess if you don't see any positives in what you do."
Abel's Saturday score was over 30 points higher than her performance in Rostock, Germany last week.
"It was much better than last week so that's the reason I'm a little bit happier than how I should be," said Abel, "But I'm still disappointed with the fact that I know I can do better and I know I should be on the podium."
Imbeau-Dulac finished 11th in the men's individual springboard.
In the men's springboard final, 19-year-old Philippe Gagne, of Ville Mont-Royal, Que., was sixth with a score of 443.50 points.