ALEXANDRA ROBERTSON
The 1510 West
Three West Islanders will be among athletes participating in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris that open next week, where the opening ceremonies will be marked with an unprecedented parade of athletes who will travel by boat along the picturesque Seine River as they make their way across the French capital to mark the beginning of the competitions.
The West Islanders are all members of the Pointe Claire Aquatics Centre, and have trained hard to propel themselves onto the world’s biggest sporting stage.
Second Olympics for McKay
Diver Caeli McKay, who is originally from Calgary, Alberta, moved to the Montreal area in 2016 to train in Pointe Claire. The 2024 Olympics will be her second, having competed at the Games in Tokyo in 2020, where she was partnered with Montrealer Meaghan Benfeito. The duo finished fourth in the 10-metre synchro diving event.
In Paris, she will compete in two diving categories – the 10-metre platform competition and the 10-metre platform synchronized event with new partner Kate Miller, who has been training in Pointe Claire for about a year.
McKay, who soon turns 25, competed at the World Aquatics Diving World Cup in Montreal in May 2023, finishing fifth in the individual competition. She also competed in the 10-metre synchro diving event with Miller. McKay also earned the biggest individual medal of her career at the World Aquatics Championships, winning bronze in the 10-metre platform.
Pointe Claire native
Pointe Claire native Nathan Zsombor-Murray will also be heading to the Summer Games for a second time. As a diver he and McKay have more than the 10-metre platform event in common. They both have partnered with Benfeito. Zsombor-Murray and Benfeito finished fifth at the 2017 World Aquatics Championships in the mixed 10-metre synchro diving event. In 2018, he competed in his first FINA World Series event in Montreal and won gold in the mixed 10-metre synchro with Benfeito.
In Paris, Zsombor-Murray will compete in the men’s 10-metre platform diving event and the men’s 10-metre synchronized competition along with teammate Rylan Wiens.
At the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, Zsombor-Murray finished in fifth place in the synchronized diving event with partner Vincent Riendeau. The West Islander medalled in his first major international event at the World Aquatics Diving World Cup in Montreal in 2023, taking home the bronze in the10-metre event.
Making Olympic debut
Beaconsfield native Patrick Hussey will make his Olympics debut this summer.
The 23-year-old swimmer has represented Canada twice at the World Aquatics Championships, in 2022 and 2023. He is one of 29 members of the Canadian Olympic swim team.
In 2022, after his world championship debut, Hussey competed in the Commonwealth Games, where he climbed the podium to claim a bronze medal as part of the mixed 4×100-metre medley relay. He failed to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Games by one spot, placing third in the time trials in the 200-metre butterfly event.
The 2024 Olympics Games begin Friday, July 26, and will run until Sunday, Aug. 11.
Cutline:
Swimmer Patrick Hussey will make his Olympic debut in Paris.