July 21, 2005

If the world aquatic championships weren't Alexandre Despatie's already, they certainly are now.

Competing in front of a hometown crowd in Montreal Thursday, Despatie did not disappoint. The 20-year-old native of Laval, Que., captured his second gold medal of the championships, winning the one-metre springboard in convincing fashion.

"I felt great," said Despatie. "After the three-metre, I thought my job was done and one-metre was going to be bonus, but I got there and everything went well again.

"I beat my personal best three times, so another great day."

Despatie scored 489.69 points over six dives for the victory.

Xiang Xu of China, the defending world champion, won the silver with 445.68 points, while Feng Wang of China, the 2001 world champion, took the bronze with 445.56.

Regina's Reuben Ross was 16th in the preliminaries with 335.55 points and failed to qualify for the semifinals.

The victory is Despatie's second medal of the competition, after winning gold in the three-metre on Tuesday. Despatie totalled 813.60 points in that event, becoming the first diver in history to surpass the 800-point plateau.

It's also the fourth diving medal for Canada at the championships.

Along with Despatie's two golds, Blythe Hartley of North Vancouver won gold in the women's one-metre springboard and youngsters Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal and Roseline Filion of Laval captured bronze in the three-metre synchronized diving event.

Consistency was Despatie's mark in Thursday's competition. He led the field from the preliminary round through the final and regularly received marks ranging from 9.0s to 10.0s.

His only "blemish" was his fourth dive where he received three 7.5s and four 8.0s.

Despatie earned a perfect score of 10.0 for his fifth dive, a reverse 11/2 somersault with 21/2 twists.

He iced the victory with a solid final dive, a forward 21/2 somersault with one twist.

Despatie knew the result as soon as he entered the water. After climbing out of the pool, the marketable diver pumped his fists in the air and blew kisses to the partisan crowd, which included a throng of screaming teenaged girls.

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