MONTREAL (CP) - Jose Antonio Guerra's silver medal in the men's 10-metre platform event Saturday was the first ever won by a Cuban at the world aquatics championships.

Cuba has also never won an Olympic diving medal.

"It was a team effort between my self and my coach," Guerra said through a translator. "It's very important for my country and for my team.

"Montreal has brought me a lot of luck."

Guerra was leading in the final, but was edged for the gold medal on the final dive by Jia Hu of China.

He said the silver medal won't change his life and Guerra isn't expecting a call from Cuban president Fidel Castro.

"My life is not going to change a lot because the way I live in Cuba now is perfectly comfortable," he said. "I don't think Castro will have anything to do with it.

"I don't live in luxury, but I live extremely well."

Mr. Bubbles - Herb Flewwelling of Edmonton, the inventor of the bubble machine that revolutionized diving, is at this event as a coach on the Canadian team.

In 1972, Flewwelling patented a machine that blows air into the water, creating a swell of bubbles in the divers' landing area.

It makes the landing 80 per cent softer and allows divers to practise difficult dives without fear of a painful impact if they mess up. The machine is not used during competitions.

Flewwelling said the machine gave Canada a huge advantage when first introduced, but the United States and other countries to quick to get one. The bubble machine is still in use and has barely altered over the decades.

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