Troy Dumais/Kristian Ipsen Win Synchro Three-Meter Gold at AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida, May 9. TROY Dumais (Ventura, Calif./Austin, Texas) and Kristian Ipsen (Clayton, Calif.) won gold in the men's synchronized 3-meter contest at the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix on Friday at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex. The U.S. also got a bronze medal on women's synchronized platform, giving the U.S. four medals – including two gold – in the first two days of Grand Prix competition.

Dumais and Ipsen scored 443.13 points for gold in only their second competition together after making their debut with a national title two weeks ago. At the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix, they topped eight other teams, including the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team of Chris Colwill (Brandon, Fla./Athens, Ga.) and Jevon Tarantino (Boca Raton, Fla./Knoxville, Tenn.). Great Britain's Ben Swain and Nicholas Robinson-Baker won the silver with 422.70 points; Colwill and Tarantino were third at 410.70 but FINA rules dictate that only one synchro team per country can medal, so the bronze went to Greeks Alexandro Manos and Stefanos Paparounas, who scored 393.99.

"Troy's a great diver, and I'm learning from him every day," the 16-year-old Ipsen said of his three-time Olympian partner. "I try to get away from the contest and not focus on what others are doing."

Two other 16-year-olds medaled for the U.S. on Friday as Michelle Cabassol (Montgomery, Texas) and Kaylea Arnett (Spring, Texas) took bronze on women's platform synchro with 289.92 points. Canadian Olympians Roseline Filion and Meaghan Benfeito scored 314.64 points for gold, and Great Britain's Monique McCarroll and Megan Sylvester were second at 310.62.

"We could tweak things a little bit, but I felt great. I dove my heart out," said Cabassol, who won an individual bronze on platform at last week's Canada Cup.

Nick McCrory (Chapel Hill, N.C.) turned in the second-highest score of the men's 10-meter semifinals with 517.10 points, behind only China's Olympic silver medalist Zhou Luxin, who scored 563.35 points. Thomas Finchum (Indianapolis, Ind.) also advanced to the finals after scoring 458.40 in his semifinal. Also advancing to the finals were Germany's Sascha Klein, Great Britain's Thomas Daley and Canada's Riley McCormick. David Boudia (Noblesville, Ind./West Lafayette, Ind.) and Sean Moore (Englewood, Colo./Columbus, Ohio) were seventh and eighth in the prelims, but could not advance as only two divers per country can move onto the finals.

Allison Brennan (Huntington Beach, Calif./Columbia, S.C.) and Christina Loukas (Riverwoods, Ill./Bloomington, Ind.) advanced to Saturday's women's 3-meter finals after placing second (333.35) and third (314.15), respectively, in semifinal B. Ariel Rittenhouse (Santa Cruz, Calif./Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) was sixth and Summer Allman (Lansing, Mich.) 11th in the preliminaries but could not advance. Joining Brennan and Loukas in the finals are China's Wu Minxia, Russia's Anastasia Pozdniakova and Nadezda Bazhina, and Canada's Jennifer Abel.

The AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix wraps up Saturday with finals in women's platform, men's 3-meter, women's 3-meter, and men's platform. Competition begins at 1 p.m.

About USA Diving: Featuring America's best divers, USA Diving is the national governing body for the sport of diving. Headquartered in Indianapolis, USA Diving offers diversified programs geared toward the broadest number of diving enthusiasts, from the novice to the world champion. USA Diving conducts approximately 40 regional and national events annually and is responsible for training and selecting teams that represent the United States at international events such as the Olympic Games, World Championships and World Cup. For additional information please call Jennifer Lowery at (317) 237-5252 or visit www.usadiving.org.

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