SASKATOON — Carson Paul thanked the other male divers competing in the 2025 Summer Senior National Championships, as their presence continues to raise the bar of the tournament. This friendly rivalry kept him sharp and focused in claiming the men’s open 3-metre gold at the Shaw Centre on Friday, May 23.
Paul, a member of the Boardworks Diving Academy, collected 462.80 points after seven rounds to beat 2018 World Junior Championships bronze medallist and 2020 Tokyo Olympian Cedric Fofana of Montreal, who settled for silver with 425.15 points. Calgary’s Tazman Abramowicz clinched the bronze with 414.60 points.
This is also Paul’s second 3-metre Canadian championship title, after winning the same event in Winnipeg in December 2023. His final score of 440.70 points there secured his spot at the 2024 World Championships in Doha, Qatar.
“This is my third time competing in this event, and every year, the competition gets tighter, the dives get harder, and the performances get cleaner. That’s not by accident — it’s because of the guys I’m diving against. It's been a lot of fun competing and training with these guys,” Paul told SaskToday.
“I am transitioning from the platform and have always looked up to these guys on the springboard. It is fun to be at this level that they are now and compete with them. I've always seen them do well, which pushes me to improve.”
He praised Fofana as a great competitor known for performing and perfectly completing challenging dives. Fofana even led after two rounds, but Paul took over after that and never looked back, consistently earning 8.0s and 8.5s from the judges.
“Cedric’s competitiveness helped me ensure I keep improving on each of my dives. It was kind of him to hit me with everything that riled up my intensity and made it so that it’s a super competitive event. It was a fun competition, going up against these best divers,” said Paul, who earned a ticket to the 2025 World Aquatics Championships in July in Singapore.
“I'm looking forward to Singapore. Before the nationals, I returned from the World Cup Circuit, competing against the best countries. But the nationals mean a lot to me; I put most of my effort into this competition. There are two more days, and I will ensure I do more good dives. But this [3-metre springboard finals] means a lot to me. I put most of my effort into winning this one.”
Paul, born in Victoria, was named the 2025 Southeastern Conference Male Diver of the Year while competing for the Louisiana State University Tigers in the U.S. NCAA. He is the son of 1992 Barcelona Olympics rowing gold medallist Terry Paul and Ingrid. He has two siblings, Ava and Oliver.
In the women’s 1-metre springboard final, Mia Vallee captured the gold with 305.25 points, followed by Amelie-Laura Jasmin’s 262.25 for silver. Alexa Fung rounded out the podium with 252.30 points.
Saturday, May 24, will feature the men’s 1-metre and women’s platform preliminary and final rounds, while the final day on Sunday, May 25, will include the men’s platform and women’s 3-metre events.
