MESSINA, Italy--Anne Montminy of Pointe-Claire, Que., won the gold medal on
women's 10-metre tower Wednesday night at the last Grand Prix diving meet
before the Olympic Games next month.

Montminy, headed to her third Games, totalled 497.94 points. It was her
third career Grand Prix win and first since July 1998. Irina Vyguzova of
Kazakhstan was second at 493.74 and her compatriot Natalya Chikina was
third at 492.80. Emilie Heymans of Montreal was fourth at 450.21.

"Anne wasn't spectacular but she was solid," said Canadian national team
coach Hui Tong of Calgary. "But any small mistake at an international meet
like this and the judges will kill you. That explains why her score is not
very high."

In the women's synchronized three-metre event, Yulia Pakhalina and Vera
Ilyna of Russia were the victors while Eryn Bulmer of Calgary and Blythe
Hartley of North Vancouver, Canada's Olympic entry, were second 23 points
back from the winners. A Mexican pair which included veteran Maria Jose
Alcala was third.

On Thursday morning, Olympians Jeff Liberty of Calgary and Arturo Miranda
of Edmonton advanced to the men's three-metre final placing seventh and
12th respectively in the semifinals. Bulmer and Hartley stand first and
third after the women's three-metre preliminaries.

Liberty and Miranda were sixth in the synchronized three-metres Wednesday
night. Canada's didn't qualify for the Olympics in that event.

Competition continues Thursday with finals on women's synchronized 10-metre
and men's three-metre. The women's three-metre final is Friday.

August 3, 2000

MONTMINY AND HEYMANS SNARE SILVER AT DIVING GRAND PRIX


MESSINA, Italy--Anne Montminy of Pointe-Claire, Que., and Emilie Heymans of
Montreal won the silver medal in their international debut on women's
synchronized 10-metre platform Thursday at a Grand Prix diving competition.

It was Canada's third medal of the competition.

The Canadians and Russians were virtually tied heading in their final
dives. But Russians Svetlana Timoshinina and Evgenia Olshevskaja, Olympic
gold medal favorites, prevailed to place first. Montminy and Heymans, who
started practicing together only this week, were second, 20 points back
from the winners while Azul Almazan and Mary Jose Alcala of Mexico were a
distant third.

"We're two good divers and half the marks are on good dives," said
Montminy, who won the 10-metre individual event on Wednesday while Heymans
was fourth. "We did well in the synchronized part too and got only one
mark below 7.5 the entire meet. The key is Emily and I agreed on a list
that doesn't change our technique too much. So doing the synchro as well
isn't a big additional burden."

The pair train at different clubs, however they are a mere 20 minute drive
from one another. Montminy and Heymans are also gold medal contenders on
the individual 10-metre tower and they feel they can add a top-three finish
in synchro as well.

"We're definitely in the medal hunt," said Montminy, headed to her third
Games. "We've only had four practices and we nearly beat the Russians who
have been together for two years. I feel once we're use to each other's
timing we're going to do really well."

Besides the Russians, China, the U.S., Germany and Australia will also
field strong pairs at the Olympics.

On men's three-metres, veteran Fernando Platas of Mexico was the winner
with 667.05 points. Peng Bo of China was second at 652.01 and his
compatriot Wang Ke Nan third at 655.54.

Canadian Olympians Jeff Liberty of Calgary and Arturo Miranda of Edmonton
were sixth and ninth respectively at 606.18 and 589.41.

On Wednesday, Montminy totalled 497.94 points on 10-metre for her third
career Grand Prix win and first since July 1998. Irina Vyguzova of
Kazakhstan was second at 493.74 and her compatriot Natalya Chikina was
third at 492.80. Heymans was fourth at 450.21.

"Anne wasn't spectacular but she was solid," said Canadian national team
coach Hui Tong of Calgary. "But any small mistake at an international meet
like this and the judges will kill you. That explains why her score is not
very high."

In the women's synchronized three-metre event Wednesday, Yulia Pakhalina
and Vera Ilyna of Russia were the victors while Eryn Bulmer of Calgary and
Blythe Hartley of North Vancouver, Canada's Olympic entry, were second 23
points back from the winners. A Mexican pair which included veteran Maria
Jose Alcala was third.

Competition ends Friday.