Kassidy Cook, Wang Anqi Win Gold at FINA World Junior Diving Championships

TUCSON, Arizona, September 7. KASSIDY Cook (The Woodlands, Texas) won her second gold medal at the FINA World Junior Diving Championships after finishing first on 3-meter in the girls B group on Monday.

Cook, who won the 1-meter title on Wednesday, scored 437.30 points to claim the 3-meter gold.

Cook was fourth in the preliminaries, and she coach Bob Gunter made a change in the finals that ended up working to their advantage. After she scored just 40.50 points on her reverse 2 ½ pike in the last round of the preliminaries, they opted to switch the dive to a reverse 2 ½ tuck in the finals. The dive carries a lower degree of difficulty than the pike, but the move paid off as Cook scored 71.40 points on the tuck, earning mostly 8.5 marks from the judges.

"At first I wasn't very happy about the change because I didn't want to wimp out, but my coach knows what's best. It turns out he was right," Cook said.
China's Lou Ying finished second with 422.30, and Japan's Yuka Mabuchi finished third at 401. USA's Sarah Bacon (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished fifth with 370.40 points.

In the boys group A platform final, China's Anqi Wang edged 2008 Olympian German Sanchez of Mexico, 602.25-599.70, for the gold. Ukraine's Oleksandr Bondar was right behind with 598.95 points for bronze. USA's David Bonuchi (Columbia, Mo.) scored 574.10 points to finish fifth. Toby Stanley (Conway, Ark.) also represented the U.S. and placed 17th with 432.90 points.

In all, Team USA won nine medals – three gold, four silver and two bronze – at the six-day Championships. Only China, with 16, won more. The medal tally was a significant jump from recent championships, with the U.S. winning two medals in 2008 and three in 2006.

"This is one of the best teams we've ever had. We're really close, and the team chemistry is great," Cook said.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World Magazine. It has been posted in its entirety without editing. Swimming World offers all outlets the chance to reach our audience by contacting us at Newsmaster@swimmingworldmagazine.com. However, Swimming World reserves the right to choose what material is posted.

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