Roseline Filion, left, celebrates with fellow divers Riley McCormick and Jennifer Abel after winning the 10-metre open platform final at the Canadian Olympic diving trials in Montreal, Sunday, May 27, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham HughesGraham Hughes/The Canadian Press
Roseline Filion wins women's 10-metre diving final to claim Olympic berth won the women's 10-metre final and Francois Imbeau-Dulac won the men's three-metre competition at the Canadian Olympic diving trials Sunday.
Filion beat out Carol-Ann Ware with a total score of 724.85 to claim one of Canada's two berths in the platform event at the Olympics this summer.
Meaghan Benfeito, Filion's synchronized diving partner, claimed the second spot in the women's 10-metre competition in London despite finishing in third place behind Ware. Benfeito had accumulated sufficient qualification points that a third-place finish assured her of one of the two spots.
"We have each other's back," said Filion. "I had to win for her to go but I know Meaghan. She is strong, she knows how to compete when it counts — I mean she did nearly 400 points today. She did her part and I did mine and we end up going to the games together, not only in synchro but in individual as well."
Benfeito and Filion had previously qualified for London as a team in the 10-metre synchronized competition.
"We did synchro in 2008 and I was so close at trials in 2008 as well, but to finally be able to say that I'm going to the Olympics individually is a great feeling," said Benfeito.
They finished seventh in the 10-metre synchronized competition in Beijing in 2008.
"It's icing on the cake," said Filion, who also failed to qualify for the individual 10-metre competition four years ago. "We went in synchro in Beijing and we really thought that it's good for us that we have two events, to not only focus on just doing synchro. So we have something to balance our training and that can only be good for us."
Imbeau-Dulac beat out Olympic veteran Reuben Ross, finishing with a total score of 922.95 to claim Canada's second men's spot in the three-metre competition in London.
"When I looked at the board and I heard everybody scream for me, I felt like I made it," said Imbeau-Dulac, who will make his Olympic debut. "So I looked at the board and I looked at my parents and they were extremely happy. I've never seen my dad cry like that before."
The 21-year-old native of St. Lazare, Que., held off Ross in the afternoon final after taking top spot in the morning preliminaries.
"I'm sure he'll do great at the Games," said Ross, who took second place with a total of 902.70. "He's an up-and-comer. This won't be his last games so it's great for him to get the experience."
Ross, who competed in both the three-metre and 10-metre events in Beijing in 2008, had already qualified for London in the three-metre synchronized competition with Alexandre Despatie.
"It's going to be disappointing not to perform in individual but I know Alex and I have a great shot at getting a medal and I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure that we're up there," Ross said.
Despatie had previously claimed Canada's first individual three-metre qualification for London and did not compete.
Emilie Heymans won the women's three-metre final Saturday and Riley McCormick topped the men's 10-metre event.
Heymans joined Jennifer Abel, who had previously qualified, as Canada's two representatives in the three-metre competition in London.
McCormick qualified for his second straight Olympics. Eric Sehn, who finished second in the men's 10-metre event Saturday, will have to wait until June 9 to find out if Canada will have a second spot in the event in London, as determined by FINA.
The Canadian Olympic diving team will be officially announced Monday morning.