USA Diving’s David Boudia, Haley Ishimatsu Win Debut Inter-Gender Team Event at FINA World Cup

CHANGZHOU, China, June 1. DAVID Boudia (Noblesville, Ind.) and Haley Ishimatsu (Seal Beach, Calif.) won the gold medal in the "team event," a new diving event conducted Tuesday in conjunction with the FINA Diving World Cup, which officially starts Wednesday.

Boudia and Ishimatsu scored 455.35 points to finish ahead of 11 other teams in the exhibition debut of this new event. It's the first U.S. win at a World competition in China since 1985. China's Luo Yutong and Wang Hao were second at 442.60, and Russia's Ilia Zakharov and Yulia Koltunova scored 422.90 points for third.

"It was a very interesting meet and a very interesting format, but it was different and fun," said Ishimatsu, a 2008 Olympian. "We dove consistently, and that ended up being really good for us."

The format of the team event consists of two divers, one male and one female, each performing three dives. Of the six dives, three must be from the 3-meter springboard and three from the 10-meter platform, and each diver must do at least one dive from each height. Additionally, each of the six dive categories (reverse, armstand, etc.) must be represented.

"I thought it went really well. We went into it excited, but we really weren't sure what to expect," said Boudia, also a 2008 Olympian. "We just relied on our consistency, and it pulled through for us. It's great to have a victory on Chinese soil, and it's great motivation for the rest of the week. "

Boudia did two dives on springboard and one on platform, and Ishimatsu did two dives on platform and one dive on springboard.

The three springboard dives were performed first, and the U.S. led by approximately 15 points at the halfway point.

"David scored 80-plus points on his two dives, but Haley's back 2 ½ pike on 3-meter was the key. She did that dive really well, and we were on our way after that," said USA Diving High Performance Director Steve Foley. "I think both divers had a lot of fun. It wasn't an official medal event, but they wanted to win it. It's a good way to start, and we're feeling good."

The World Cup, the top international event of the 2010 season, officially kicks off Wednesday and runs through June 6. Wednesday's competition features preliminaries in all four synchronized diving events, beginning with Ishimastu and Mary Beth Dunnichay (Elwood, Ind.) in the women's 10-meter synchro competition. Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif./Austin, Texas) and Kristian Ipsen (Clayton, Calif.) will compete in men's 3-meter synchro, and Cassidy Krug (Pittsburgh, Pa./Stanford, Calif.) and Kassidy Cook (The Woodlands, Texas) will dive women's 3-meter synchro. Boudia will pair with Nick McCrory (Chapel Hill, N.C.) in 10-meter synchro. The U.S. won silver medals both 10-meter synchro events and in men's 3-meter synchro at the 2009 World Championships.

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