AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix: Day Four

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, May 8. U.S. divers wrapped up the 2011 AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix with three more medals, highlighted by a gold from Christina Loukas (Riverwoods, Ill./The Woodlands, Texas) and Abby Johnston (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Durham, N.C.) in synchronized 3-meter.

The U.S. also got a pair of bronze medals from Kelci Bryant (Chatham, Ill./Minneapolis, Minn.) in 3-meter and David Boudia (Noblesville, Ind./West Lafayette, Ind.) and Nick McCrory (Chapel Hill, N.C./Durham, N.C.) in synchronized 10-meter.

In all, the U.S. finished with six medals: one gold, two silver and three bronze.

Johnston and Loukas scored 293.40 points to pick up the 3-meter synchro gold, with silver going to Great Britain's Alicia Blagg and Rebecca Gallantree with 286.20 points. The Americans were in second place, less than a point behind the Brits, with one round to go and responded with 65.70 points on their back 2 ½ to finish atop the standings.

"We've been enjoying ourselves. It's been a long week in the sun, and it's great to go out on a high note," Johnston said.

Although the last dive was what gave them the lead in the end, Loukas said the pair's first two dives were key to the victory.

"Getting 100 points on our vols was important. That's the first mark you want to get to be successful in synchro," Loukas said.

Germany's Tina Punzel and Nora Subschinski earned bronze at 279.90. The U.S. team of Cassidy Krug (Coraopolis, Pa./Stanford, Calif.) and Kassidy Cook (The Woodlands, Texas) turned in the third highest score with 285.30, but were considered an exhibition team. FINA rules allow for the host country to enter two teams but only one team counts in the final standings.

Bryant had a solid outing on 3-meter, scoring 333.60 points for the bronze. 2010 World Cup champion He Zi of China won the gold with 389.45 points, and Russia's Anastasia Pozdniakova took silver with 337.35.

"I'm happy with my performance. I had really good hurdles today. That's something I've struggled with, and I told myself I didn't want that to happen today," Bryant said.

McCrory and Boudia combined for the bronze medal in synchronized 10-meter and then finished fifth and sixth in the individual contest. In synchro, they scored 438.51 points to finish behind China's Huo Liang and Qiu Bo (456.27) and Mexico's German Sanchez and Ivan Garcia (444.81). Huo and Bo also went 1-2 in the individual event, with Huo taking gold at 540.15 and Qiu going 524.55. Ukraine's Oleksandr Bondar scored 515.10 points for bronze. McCrory scored 512.80, and Boudia finished with 508.00 points.

USA's Steele Johnson (Carmel, Ind.) and Toby Stanley (Conway, Ark.) also competed in the 10-meter contest and scored a personal best 388.98 for fifth.

AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix results
Synchronized Women's 3-meter Final
1. Christina LOUKAS, United States / Abby JOHNSTON, United States, 293.40;2. Rebecca GALLANTREE, Great Britain / Alicia BLAGG, Great Britain, 286.20; 3. Tina PUNZEL, Germany / Nora SUBSCHINSKI, Germany, 279.90;4. Mai NAKAGAWA, Japan / Sayaka SHIBUSAWA, Japan, 275.40;5. Laura SANCHEZ, Mexico / Vianey HERNANDEZ, Mexico, 271.50;6. Carol-Ann WARE, Canada / Pamela WARE, Canada, 269.22;7. Olena FEDOROVA, Ukraine / Anna PYSMENSKA, Ukraine, 265.80;8. Tammy TAKAGI, Brazil / Juliana VELOSO, Brazil, 253.26;9. Paula SOTOMAYOR, Chile / Wendy ESPINA, Chile, 200.13;10. Habiba Ashraf KAMAL, Egypt / Dina mohamed FOUAD SHENESHAN, Egypt, 197.94; Exhibition: Cassidy KRUG, United States / Kassidy COOK, United States, 285.30

Synchronized Men's Platform Final
1. BO Qiu, China / LIANG Huo, China, 456.27;2. German SANCHEZ, Mexico / Ivan GARCIA, Mexico, 444.81;3. David BOUDIA, United States / Nick MCCRORY, United States, 438.51;4. Oleksandr BONDAR, Ukraine / Oleksandr GORSHKOVOZOV, Ukraine, 395.10;5. Steele JOHNSON, United States / Toby Stanley, United States, 388.98;6. Juan RIOS, Colombia / Victor ORTEGA, Colombia, 356.70;7. Kazuki MURAKAMI, Japan / Yu OKAMOTO, Japan, 333.99;8. Kevin GEYSON, Canada / Eric SEHN, Canada, 330.84;9. Kristoffer JORGENSEN, Norway / Amund GISMERVIK, Norway, 320.16

Women's 3-meter Springboard Final
1. He Zi, China, 389.45;2. Anastasia POZDNIAKOVA, Russia, 337.35;3. Kelci BRYANT, United States, 333.60;4. Sayaka SHIBUSAWA, Japan, 309.30;5. Laura SANCHEZ, Mexico, 306.25;6. Olena FEDOROVA, Ukraine, 272.70

Men's Platform Final
1. LIANG Huo, China, 540.15;2. BO Qiu, China, 524.55;3. Oleksandr BONDAR, Ukraine, 515.10;4. German SANCHEZ, Mexico, 515.00;5. Nick MCCRORY, United States, 512.80;6. David BOUDIA, United States, 508.00

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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