Canada's Zsombor-Murray, Wiens book Olympic men's diving spot at aquatics worlds
Women's water polo team drops match to Olympic-spot rivals at worlds
One job is done for Canada's Rylan Wiens.
The 22-year-old diver teamed with Nathan Zsombor-Murray on a fifth-place finish at the World Aquatics Championships on Thursday, clinching a Paris Olympic spot in the process.
Wiens and Zsombor-Murray totalled 388.20 points across their six dives in the men's synchronized 10-metre platform event, less than 20 points behind Ukrainian bronze medallists Oleksii Sereda and Kirill Boliukh at 406.47.
China's Junjie Lian and Hao Yang ran away with gold at 470.76 points, while Great Britain's Thomas Daley and Noah William claimed silver at 422.37.
"I was super nervous the whole time. But we both held it together and did what we needed to do. There's no one I'd rather be diving synchro with than this dude right here," Wiens said, gesturing toward Zsombor-Murray.
WATCH | Wiens, Zsombor-Murray punch Olympic ticket:
Calgary's Wiens is still seeking an individual berth to Paris, which he can clinch in a competition also featuring Zsombor-Murray. That event begins Friday at 10:30 a.m. ET with live streaming available on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app and CBC Gem.
Zsombor-Murray already earned his Olympic qualification.
"Obviously I gotta open that [second] spot for Canada. Same mentality, obviously same nervousness but I know I can do it and I'm just going to keep riding the wave we've got going now," Wiens said.
WATCH | Full replay of 10m synchro final:
Women's water polo team falls to Italy
Meanwhile, Canada's quest for Olympic qualification in women's water polo hit a speedbump, missing a chance to advance directly to the quarterfinals.
Claudia Marletta scored four goals to lead Italy to a 12-8 win over Canada in Doha.
"Definitely disappointing that we weren't able to get the win in the end," said Canada's Emma Wright. "I think that we started strong, which was good for us but I think just a few mistakes and let the game get away from us at the end."
Roberta Bianconi and Chiara Tabani each added three goals apiece for the undefeated Italian team (3-0) who wrapped up top spot in Group D and will advance straight to the quarters.
Wright and Verica Bakoc each had a pair of goals for Canada (2-1) who will now need to win a one-game playoff on Saturday against New Zealand at 11 a.m. ET to advance to the quarterfinals.
"Stay very similar. Stay very composed. ... It's important for us to take this game step by step and prepare for it like any other," said head coach David Paradelo.
WATCH | Women's water polo Canada vs. Italy:
Two Olympic spots are up for grabs in Doha as half of the 16 women's teams competing have already locked up their berths for Paris, so Canada needs to be one of the top two finishers of those yet to qualify to book their Olympic ticket.
Going by world rankings and recent results, it'll be a three-way battle for those two spots between Canada, Italy and Hungary.
Canada roster
- Verica Bakoc — Toronto
- Serena Browne — Pointe-Claire, Que.
- Floranne Carroll — Montreal
- Axelle Crevier — Montréal
- Jessica Gaudreault — Ottawa
- Daphné Guèvremont — Montreal
- Shae La Roche — Winnipeg
- Rae Lekness — Calgary
- Elyse Lemay-Lavoie — Calgary
- Blaire McDowell — Fernie, B.C.
- Maria Eleni Mimides — Glyfada, GRE, & Toronto
- Hayley McKelvey — North Delta, B.C.
- Kindred Paul — Spruce Grove, Alta.
- Clara Vulpisi — Montreal
- Emma Wright — Whitby, Ont.
- Lucy Davis (alternate) — Port Moody, B.C.
Simoneau, Lamothe 5th in duet free final
Canadian artistic swimmers Jacqueline Simoneau, of Saint-Laurent, Que., and Montreal's Audrey Lamothe finished off the podium in the women's duet free final on Thursday.
Simoneau and Lamothe scored 239.0563 points, which was 11.7166 behind the gold-medal winning twins Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi of China.
The 27-year-old Chinese stars have each won four gold medals in Doha. They also paired up to claim the top spot in duet technical routine, and were both members of the Chinese squad that claimed gold in team acrobatic and team technical.
Dutch twins Bregje and Noortje de Brouwer (250.4979) took the silver medal while Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe of Great Britain (247.2626) rounded out the podium in bronze-medal position.
The Canadian duo finished seventh in the women's duet technical routine on Monday.
Simoneau scored a women's solo free gold medal on Tuesday and women's solo technical silver medal on Saturday.
Australia wins open water thriller
Also Thursday, Australia edged Italy in a thrilling mixed 4x1,500-meter open water race at Doha Old Port.
The winning team of Moesha Johnson, Chelsea Gubecka, Nicholas Sloman and Kyle Lee captured the gold in one hour, three minutes, 28 seconds — just 0.20 seconds ahead of the Italian squad.
In the hectic sprint to the finish, Lee moved up on Domenico Acerenza's hip and shoulder before sliding inside and swiping the pad just ahead of the Italian swimmer.
The other members of the silver medal-winning team were Giulia Gabbrielleschi, Arianna Bridi and Domenico Acerenza.
The Hungarian squad of Bettina Fabian, Mira Szimcsak, David Betlehem and Kristof Rasovszky settled for the bronze in 1:04:06.80.
CBC Sports will live stream action from the World Aquatics Championships on CBC Gem, the CBC Sports app and on CBCSports.ca. Click here for the full broadcast schedule from Doha.
WATCH l Pickrem, Ruck, Wilm headline Canada's swim team:
