VICTORIA -- Meaghan Benfeito survived a mistake on her final dive to win the women's 10-metre event, and Francois Imbeau-Dulac's consistency's carried him to victory in the men's three-metre final at the winter nationals diving competition on Sunday.
Imbeau-Dulac, of St-Lazare, Que., posted 476.65 points to finish ahead of Philippe Gagne of Montreal at 440.05 and Cedric Fofana of Quebec City at 428.60 in second and third, respectively.
"I couldn't be happier to start off a new season like this," said Imbeau-Dulac, a 2012 Olympian.
"I never expected to get these kinds of scores. I can't pinpoint one dive I was most happy. It was just my overall consistency."
In the women's 10-metre final, Montreal's Benfeito held on despite a final-attempt blunder to win with 372.60 points.
Celina Toth of St. Thomas, Ont., nailed her final dive, but couldn't catch the 2016 Olympic bronze medallist and finished in second with 363.85 points.
Toth was first in the preliminaries with a personal-best score of 369.90.
"My last dive (back three and half) is my newest dive and it was very satisfying to do it so well here," said Toth. "It was exciting to finish so close to Meaghan, but she puts up a heck of a fight every time."
Caeli McKay of Calgary was third with 353.30 points.
The winter nationals are part of the qualifying process for the FINA World Championships this summer which in turn are an Olympic qualifying event.
