'We're over the moon': Pointe-Claire Diving Club celebrates alum's bronze medal

Montreal-area diver Nathan Zsombor-Murray helped Canada to a bronze medal in the men's synchronized 10-metre platform early Monday morning.

The Pointe-Claire native paired with Rylan Wiens of Regina and took home Canada's first Olympic men's diving medal since Beijing 2008 and its first-ever medal in the 10-metre platform.

Zsombor-Murray's journey began at the Pointe-Claire Diving Club. His bronze medal win sent shockwaves through his old stomping grounds.

"What can we say? It's been an insane morning," said club assistant head coach David Bédard, 58, who competed in four consecutive Olympics, starting in Los Angeles 1984. "Nathan has always been an up-and-coming superstar. I never knew where that ceiling was, and he's raised the roof again."

Zsombor-Murray participated in the Tokyo 2020 Games, where he dove alongside Vincent Riendeau, another Pointe-Claire Diving Club alum.

The pair just missed the podium in 2021, finishing fifth in the synchronized 10-metre platform. Zsombor-Murray also placed 13th in the 10-metre platform individual event in Tokyo.

The Pointe-Claire Diving Club has been represented at every Olympic Games since 1968. Several medal-winners have trained at the club, but this is the first-ever Olympic medal won by a homegrown diver from Pointe-Claire.

"We're accustomed to having Olympians, but we're not accustomed to having medals," said Bédard. "We're over the moon."

One of the divers at the club, MacKenzie Maivan-Houttecachero, has been diving for six years, but it is her first year in sport-étude. She woke up early to watch her hometown diver compete.

"I think it's absolutely amazing to see that a Pointe-Claire diver that was once in our shoes is now an Olympic medalist," she said.

Not only will Zsombor-Murray's triumph motivate those currently at the club, but his presence at the club is nothing but positive.

He was on the fence about diving at first, according to Bédard, but eventually learned to love it. Now, he makes an effort to help those back at the diving club.

"Super happy for Nathan. We see him every day," said Sam McCaffrey, another diver at the club. "He works super hard. He's a great leader, and he's really inspiring."

Bédard says this bronze medal will show the club members that a similar fate is not out of reach. He feels the best thing for the kids is to be in Zsombor-Murray's presence as much as possible.

They got that opportunity when a fire struck the Olympic training pool, rerouting Zsombor-Murray's training to the diving club for the last few weeks before leaving for Paris.

The diving club members happened to be training for junior nationals, so they got the opportunity to train alongside Zsombor-Murray.

"Training alongside with them is just amazing," said Maivan-Houttecachero, who also aspires to dive for Canada at the Olympics. "To have that to look at, and ask them questions and everything, it's crazy."

Bédard hopes to see increased attendance to the diving club's tryouts this week.

"Hopefully, this shows the local area again that we can produce, and we can make happy, healthy people as well as medals," Bédard said.