The Junior PanAms were held in Calgary, September 10th to 13th. Our own C.J. Moore competed at this meet as a member of the Junior Canadian Team, along with his coach, Rob Wells. Each country could send their top two divers in each age category. There were divers there from the United States, Mexico, Brazil and many other Pan-American countries.
C.J. qualified for this meet, with his triple silver at Junior Nationals, earning him the right to compete in all three events – 1 meter, 3 meter and Tower.
The 1 meter and 3 meter C.J. events proved challenging for C.J., with the other participants having much higher D.D.’s (degree of difficulty) dives. He scored 363.75 on the 1 meter and 410.25 on the 3 meter, coming in 7th in both venues.
But it was on tower, where C.J. took on the competition, and held his own. He dove well on his compulsory dive and on his inward one and a half dive, C.J. received 9 and ½’s from the judges, just .5 away from a perfect 10. His optional dives gave him some difficulty, but it was his back two and a half, with a D.D. of 3.0 that put him in place for a medal. With scores of 8’s from the judges, he took second and stayed there to finish with the silver.
This was C.J.’s first international medal. He told us “It’s a thrill to win my first international medal.” Rob was extremely pleased with C.J.’s performance. He knew that C.J. had the chance at a medal, and was ecstatic (well ecstatic is a little strong – let’s say he was very proud) when his prediction came true.
Congratulations to Rob and C.J. on a high note to finish the season
