Canadian Sport News (CSN
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July 21, 2000

LIBERTY WINS THIRD STRAIGHT CANADIAN DIVING TITLE

THUNDER BAY, Ont.--Jeff Liberty of Calgary won a tight dual with Olympic
teammate Arturo Miranda of Edmonton Friday on men's one-metre at the summer
nationals diving championships.

Liberty, 22, registered a personal best 362.10 points for his third
straight national crown on one-metre. Miranda, the leader after the
preliminaries, was second at 361.66- also a personal best- and Christian
Picard of Montreal was third at 324.24.

While the one-metre is not an Olympic event, Liberty says it's still
valuable to him for his preparations to compete on three-metres at the
Olympics this September.

"Anytime you can get springboard work it's very important," said Liberty,
with five gold medals at the last three nationals. "I treat the one-metre
as a warm-up event. I work on a lot of things from getting to the end of
the board and having good balance to being strong on my take-off. Plus to
win gives me a lot of confidence."

Miranda, 29, came very close to his first Canadian crown. The former
Cuban national champion moved to Canada in 1995 and entered his first
international competition for his new homeland only this season.

On women's 10-metres after semifinals, defending champion Emilie Heymans,
19, of Montreal was sensational and leads with 560.94 points. The score
beats her personal best of 550.98 set in a gold medal performance at the
Pan Am Games last year.

"It's just a great feeling to do this with my international dive list,"
said Heymans, who sprained her ankle three weeks ago and has only trained
twice since Monday.

Veteran Anne Montminy of Pointe-Claire, Que., looking for an eighth title,
is second at 527.88. Caroline Lauzon of Montreal is third at 460.56.

Montminy and Heymans are Canada's two Olympic entries on women's tower and
serious medal threats. They were second and fourth respectively at the FINA
World Cup in Sydney this past January.

Competition continues Saturday with finals on men's 10-metre tower and
women's three-metres.


Friday's results at the summer nationals diving competition in Thunder Bay,
Ont.:

MEN

One-metre (final): 1. Jeff Liberty, Calgary, 362.10; 2. Arturo Miranda,
Edmonton, 361.66; 3. Christian Picard, Montreal, 324.24; 4. Adam Marsh, St.
John's, Nfld., 324.15; 5. Erik Petursson, Calgary, 319.35; 6. Josh Gallant,
Nepean, Ont., 313.98; 7. Aaron Wionzek, Saskatoon, 306.60; 8. Sean Burnett,
Regina, 303.69; 9. Chris Monson, Edmonton, 298.92; 10. Nicolas Leblanc,
Montreal, 295.77.

WOMEN

10-metre (after semifinals): 1. Emilie Heymans, Montreal, 560.94; 2. Anne
Montminy, Pointe-Claire, Que., 527.88; 3. Caroline Lauzon, Montreal,
460.56; 4. Marie-Eve Marleau, Montreal, 420.45; 5. Adrienne Bell,
Pointe-Claire, Que., 405.09; 6. Shannon Dempsey, Toronto, 399.24; 7. Laura
Knowles, Nepean, Ont., 397.26; 8. Mariene Allaire Morin, Montreal, 380.49;
9. Shannon Sullivan, Calgary, 374.97 10. Courtney Bridgewater, Nepean,
Ont., 358.74.