KAZAN, Russia — Meaghan Benfeito of Montreal earned the biggest win of her career on Sunday as she beat two-time defending Olympic champion Chuolin Ren on women’s 10-metre tower to conclude the third stop on the FINA World Series diving circuit.
Benfeito nailed her final inward dive for five 8.5’s and two 8.0’s to pull ahead of the Chinese star with 383.10 points. Chen took the silver 381.75 and Tonia Couch of Britain was third at 360.30. Roseline Filion of Laval, Que., was fifth.
Chen, who has won 18 of the 23 World Series 10-metre tower events she’s entered in her career, still leads the overall standings after three of six events with 50 points followed by Couch at 40 while Huixia Li of China and Benfeito are tied for third at 37.
Benfeito is the first non-Chinese woman to take a gold medal in the 2015 World Series. This is her third career gold medal on the circuit, and her second in individual platform.
The 26-year-old two-time Olympian made another trip to the podium later Sunday as she combined forces with Vincent Riendeau of Pointe-Claire, Que., for silver on 10-metre mixed synchro. It was her third medal this weekend. On Friday Benfeito and Filion were second on women’s 10-metre synchro.
On men’s 10-metre tower Maxim Bouchard of St-Constant, Que., was 10th overall.
The fourth stop on the circuit is this Friday to Sunday in London. The fifth stop is in Windsor, Ont., May 22-24.