USA Wins Four Medals at AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, May 12. TEAM USA medaled on all four events Saturday at the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix, with U.S. divers winning two silver and two bronze medals.

Individually, Thomas Finchum (Indianapolis, Ind.) won the men's 10-meter silver and Christina Loukas (Riverwoods, Ill.) picked up the bronze on women's 3-meter.

Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) and Kristian Ipsen (Clayton, Calif.) earned silver in men's synchronized 3-meter, and Amy Cozad (Indianapolis, Indiana) and Laura Ryan (Elk River, Minn.) won bronze in women's synchronized 10-meter.

Finchum scored 509.25 points, second only to 2008 Olympic silver medalist Zhou Luxin of China, who finished with 518.75 points. Mexico's Ivan Garcia was third with 445.15 points. Finchum earned a 10 from one judge on his reverse 3 ? tuck in round four, earning 94.05 points on the dive. He scored 88.20 points on his final dive, a back 2 ? with 2 ? twists.

“There were such adverse conditions out there (Saturday). It was very windy, but I had a lot of fun the whole competition. Obviously I wanted the gold, but I had good rhythm and I was happy with my performance,” Finchum said. “It was a good last meet before the Olympic Trials.”

Cozad credited Finchum's ability to handle the wind in helping her with her own performance on Saturday. Finchum battled through not just wind but rain in Thursday's semifinals, and Cozad didn't forget how the Olympian dealt with it.

“Diving outside is so fun, but it was really windy. In warm-ups, I couldn't help but think of Thomas competing earlier in the week and how he handled the conditions like a champion. I told myself I wanted to do the same,” Cozad said.

Cozad and Ryan came through with 294.75 points, winning bronze behind China's Liu Huixia and Jiaming Zhu (319.02) and Canada's Meaghan Benfeito and Roseline Filion.

Loukas medaled individually on 3-meter for the second consecutive meet, having also won bronze at a FINA World Series meet last month. This time, she scored 325.70 points to finish behind China's Wang Han (377.40) and Mexico's Arantxa Chanez (332.25).

Loukas missed her front 3 ? in round four for just 52.70 points, but scored between 66-70.50 points on her other four dives.

“Other than the one dive I missed, I was pretty consistent and happy with my performance,” Loukas said. “I'm becoming more confident and comfortable in competition.”

Malaysia's Bryan Nickson Lomas and Huang Liang scored 415.20 to win the men's synchronized 3-meter gold, with Dumais and Ipsen finishing second with 376.86. USA's Chris Colwill and Drew Livingston scored 357.99 points, which would have placed third but was considered an exhibition event as each country can medal only once. Brazil's Luiz Outerelo and Ian Matos scored 350.01 for the official bronze.

The AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix concludes Sunday with finals in men's synchronized 10-meter, women's synchronized 3-meter, men's 3-meter and women's 10-meter.

Results — May 12, 2012
Synchronized Women Platform (Final)
1. LIU Huixia, China / JIAMING Zhu, China, 319.02;2. Meaghan BENFEITO, Canada / Roseline FILION, Canada, 304.92;3. Amy COZAD, United States / Laura RYAN, United States, 294.75;4. Loudy WIGGINS, Australia / Rachel BUGG, Australia, 292.35;5. Leong MUN YEE, Malaysia / Pandelela RINONG, Malaysia, 287.58;6. Katherine BELL, United States / Cheyenne COUSINEAU,, 258.24.

Synchronized Men 3-meter Springboard (Final)
1. Huang QIANG, Malaysia / Bryan NICKSON LOMAS, Malaysia, 415.20;2. Troy DUMAIS, United States / Kristian IPSEN, United States, 376.86;3. Luiz Felipe OUTERELO, Brazil / Ian Carlos MATOS, Brazil, 350.01;4. SHIXIN Li, China / HE Chao, China, 344.22.

Women's 3-meter Springboard (Final)
1. HAN Wang, China, 377.40;2. Arantxa CHAVEZ, Mexico, 332.25;3. Christina LOUKAS, United States, 325.70;4. JIAO Liu, China, 306.75;5. Sharleen STRATTON, Australia, 306.35;6. Pamela WARE, Canada, 280.65

Men's Platform (Final)
1. ZHOU Luxin, China, 518.75;2. Thomas FINCHUM, United States, 509.25;3. Ivan GARCIA, Mexico, 445.15;4. HUO Liang, China, 419.30;5. Saul SANCHEZ S., Mexico, 413.80;6. Riley MCCORMICK, Canada, 372.05

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