Jennifer Lukas, CTVOlympics.ca Staff
LONDON, England — “I think he can do it.”
It was a vote of confidence from Blythe Hartley, an Olympic bronze medallist watching the men’s 3m springboard competition from the London Aquatics Centre stands.
Having travelled to the FINA Diving World Cup with her former team, the retired Canadian diver watched as Alexandre Despatie stepped up to the board ahead of his final dive.
Despatie, of Laval, Que., had tried to temper expectations ahead of Wednesday’s individual 3m final; his mission, after all, was already accomplished. Finishing fifth in the synchronized event with Reuben Ross and advancing this far already in the individual competition, he had earned an Olympic berth for Canada in both events. The final was supposed to be used as a learning experience ahead of his fourth Olympic appearance and after more than a year away from diving following a knee injury.
But now, on the take-off of his final dive, Despatie was on the cusp of the impossible — mere points away from a bronze medal in his first competition against the top diving field in more than a year and a half.
Two-and-a-half front somersaults and two full twists later, Despatie emerged from the water and, feeling a little bewildered at the noise, looked toward Hartley and the other Canadians in the stands.
With two nines and an 8.5 from the judges, he had done just enough. Edging Australia’s Ethan Warren by just a quarter of a point, the 26-year-old was in third place. He would be invited to step up onto the podium after his first World Cup back from months of rest and rehabilitation.
“I had no idea. I never watch the scoreboard,” Despatie said before he received his bronze medal. “I don’t know how close it is or how un-close… I was just happy with my performance. But then I could see in everyone’s face that something more had happened.”
Chinese divers He Chong and Qin Kai took the top two podium spots while Ross also made the top-10, finishing 10th overall with a score of 455.85.
“After the qualifying yesterday, starting this morning, I felt so much better on the board, so much more confident. Relieved. Liberated, sort of. So I could focus on what I had to and I was really feeling like I was in the good years, if I could call it that. Which are back now.”
Mere hours later, Canada’s synchronized 10m platform team, Roseline Filion and Meaghan Benfeito, would prove that they were in the good years as well.
The pair booked their spot at London 2012 with a second-place finish in the final. They scored 331.65, just behind the gold medal winning Chinese duo of Chen Ruolin and Wang Hao. Great Britain’s Sarah Barrow and Tonia Couch claimed bronze.
It was a bittersweet night for Benfeito, who was diving with her grandfather on her mind.
“I’m very emotional,” said a teary Benfeito after she received her medal. “He passed away before I left for here.
“He was with us tonight, I’m sure. And he would be so proud.”
Benfeito and Filion also competed together at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, finishing seventh as a synchronized 10m pair.
The FINA Diving World Cup continues on Thursday with the men’s synchronized 10m platform, and the women’s 3m springboard. Canada still needs to qualify an Olympic berth in the men’s 10m event. In the women’s springboard, Three-time Olympic medallist Emilie Heymans will take her first dives in the 2012 Olympic venue. Heymans has already qualified a spot for Canada at the Games scheduled for later this year.
Jennifer Lukas is the Digital lead Aquatics producer for CTVOlympics.ca. She is in London this week, reporting on the FINA Diving World Cup and Olympic test event from the Aquatics Centre in Olympic Park. Follow her updates on Twitter at @JenniferLukas and join in the conversation at @CTVOlympics.