Fun Philosophy Pays Off For Montreal Teenager At Canadian Diving Championships CanSport, March 26, 1999

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.

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

Canadian Sport News
TORONTO, March 26, 1999
Emilie Heymans of Montreal, who has enjoyed great international success the past couple of years, claimed a first career Canadian title Friday winning the women's one-metre event at the 1999 Winter Nationals diving competition being held at the Etobicoke Olympium.

The 17-year-old phenom dominated the preliminaries and final totalling 274.68 points with Blythe Hartley of North Vancouver, B.C., second at 263.67 and Myriam Boileau of Montreal third at 255.18.

"I've never dove this well before on one-metre," said Heymans, the 1997 world junior champion on tower and silver medallist on three-metre at the FINA World Cup in January.

"I'm a bit surprised because I only starting practicing it again about two weeks ago. But I just nailed everything today."

On men's 10-metre tower, 13-year-old Commonwealth Games champion Alexandre Despatie of Montreal has a commanding lead after the semifinals with 607.98 points. Christopher Kalec of Montreal is second at 568.11 and Philippe Comtois, also of Montreal, stands third at 545.97.

The women's 10-metre tower and men three metre finals are Saturday and the men's tower and women's three metre finals go Sunday. Finals start both days at 2 p.m.

After Thursday's preliminaries on women's 10-metre tower, six-time national champion Anne Montminy of Pointe-Claire, Que., is first, Boileau, the 1997 World Cup champion, second and Heymans is third.

Louis Daignault
Canadian Sport News

Canadian Sport News

March 27, 1999

MONTMINY BREAKS CANADIAN RECORD TO REMAIN THE POWER ON TOWER

TORONTO--Anne Montminy of Pointe-Claire, Que., broke her Canadian record on women's 10-metre tower Saturday to earn a seventh career Canadian title at the Winter Nationals diving competition being held at the Etobicoke Olympium.

Montminy, 24, totalled 546.21 points to eclipse her previous standard of 538.00 set at the summer nationals last year in Regina. Emilie Heymans of Montreal, the one-metre winner Friday, was second at 501.84 and Myriam Boileau of Montreal, the 1997 World Cup champion, third at 499.05.

"I only looked at the scores before my last dive and I realized I had a shot at the record," said Montminy, ranked seventh in the world. "It wasn't something I was shooting for at the start of the competition. But my first two dives went really well and that just gave me a lot of confidence."

Montminy opened with a string of 9.0's out of possible 10 on an inward 2-1/2 pike then scored big points on a front 3-1/2 pike, her most difficult dive, registering some 9.5's.

On men's three-metre, Philippe Comtois of Montreal, also notched a seventh Canadian title, scoring a personal best 658.59 points, the third highest in Canadian history. Jeff Liberty of Calgary was second at 628.14 and Arturo Miranda of Toronto third at 578.52. But because Miranda is a foreign entry Alexandre Despatie of Montreal, who placed fourth, received a bronze medal.

The key for Comtois was landing a reverse 2-1/2 with 1-1/2 twists in pike position in the final round, one of the toughest dives in the books, for 8.0's and 8.5's.

"When I did that dive I thought I'd done a good job ," said Comtois, 22, ranked sixth in the world. "I never expected those kinds of marks. I hadn't done the previous dive very well and I was pretty frustrated at myself. So I really I had to focus on staying relaxed for the last one."

Competition ends Sunday with the men's 10-metre and women's three metre. Action starts at 2 p.m. at the Etobicoke Olympium.

Saturday's final results at the 1999 Winter Nationals diving competition at the Etobicoke Olympium in Toronto:

Louis Daignault
Canadian Sport News

Etobicoke, March 28, 1999
Montreal teen, Alexandre Despatie won his 2nd consecutive Senior National platfrom title by a huge margin, posting a record 683.04 points in today's final. Despatie was so far ahead of the rest of the field, that he had clinched the title even before executing his final dive. The 13 year old Despatie was the only male diver of the week to post any perfect "10's". He received 6 "10's" in total, over two separate dives. This was en route to breaking his own Canadian record which he set at while winning the gold medal at the 1998 Commonwealth Games. He broke that record by 31 points.

In the Women's 3 Metre springboard final, it was an all-Montreal sweep of the medals. Anne- Josee Dionne came from behind to capture her 6th Senior National title. She edged teammate, and recent silver medallist at the 1999 FINA World Cup, Emilie Heymans to grab the gold medal. Myriam Boileau, who won the 10M platform event at the recently completed German Grand Prix, had a solid event to finish 3rd.

Dionne was solid and consistent with every dive, scoring 8 out of a possible 10 on almost every dive in the final session. She also set a new personal best with her total of 542.29 points.

TORONTO (CP), March 28, 1999
Alexandre Despatie, a 13-year-old from Montreal, scored six perfect 10s en route to winning the men's 10-metre tower event Sunday at the Winter Nationals diving championships with a national record.

Despatie, who captured his second consecutive national platform crown, scored 683.04 points in breaking by 31 points his own national record he set in winning the event at the 1998 Commonwealth Games.

Tony Revitt of Vancouver was a distant second with 570.60 points and Jeff Liberty of Calgary placed third with 570.24.

Despatie earned six 10s over two separate dives in the final and had the gold medal clinched prior to his final dive.

The women's three-metre springboard was a Montreal sweep. Anne-Josee Dionne came from behind to win her sixth national title with a personal-best 542.29 points. Emillie Heymans was second with 538.47 and Myriam Boileau placed third with 510.60.

Back to 1999 Press Coverage

Page reviewed on March 28, 1999 by