U.S. Divers Medal Three Times at FINA Diving World Series Stop

SHEFFIELD, Great Britain, April 17. U.S. divers won three bronze medals, all in men's events, at the third leg of the 2011 FINA Diving World Series on Friday and Saturday. The World Series features the top finishers from the 2010 FINA World Cup.

Three-time Olympian Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif./Austin, Texas) had a hand in two of the medals, winning the individual 3-meter bronze on Friday and teaming up with Kristian Ipsen (Clayton, Calif.) for the synchronized 3-meter bronze on Saturday. David Boudia (Noblesville, Ind./West Lafayette, Ind.) rounded out the U.S. medals with a men's 10-meter bronze on Saturday.

Dumais finished with 507.65 points in the individual 3-meter event, highlighted by a reverse 3 ½ that earned 9s and 9.5s from the judges. Chinese divers finished first and second, with World Cup silver medalist Qin Kai taking gold with 547.70 points and 2008 Olympic gold medalist and World Cup champion He Chong scoring 531.15 points for silver. Ipsen also competed but did not advance to the finals after scoring 400.75 points for fourth in his semifinal.

Dumais and Ipsen scored 425.73 points in the 3-meter synchro final, finishing behind only 2010 World Cup champions Qin and Luo Yutong (460.23) and Mexico's Yahel Castillo and Daniel Islas (451.71).

Led by a 100-point effort on his back 3 ½ pike, Boudia scored 534.55 points to finish third in a talent-laden men's platform final that featured a world champion, a World Cup champion, and World Championship and World Cup silver medalists. China's Qui Bo, the 2009 World Championships silver medalist, claimed gold with 586.55 points, and China's Huo Liang, the silver medalist at last year's World Cup, took second at 567.10. 2009 World champion Tom Daley of Great Britain was fourth, and 2008 WOrld Cup champion Sascha Klein of Germany finished fifth. Nick McCrory (Chapel Hill, N.C./Durham, N.C.) also competed; he scored 444.80 in his semifinal but did not advance.

Boudia and McCrory paired up in synchronized 10-meter, finishing fifth with 424.83 points. The pair led heading into the final round but faltered on their front 4 ½ tuck, the most difficult dive on their list. Great Britain's Daley and Peter Waterfield claimed gold at home with 449.43 points, upsetting China's World Cup champions Yuan Cao and Yanquang Zhang, who scored 443.82 for silver. Less than three points separated bronze from fifth place, with Germany's Klein and Patrick Hausding scoring 427.59 to take the final spot on the podium.

On the women's side, Kassidy Cook (The Woodlands, Texas) edged teammate Abby Johnston (Upper Arlington, Ohio/Durham, N.C.) by a tenth of point for a spot in the 3-meter finals, where she ended up sixth with 251.95 points. In the semis, the 15-year-old Cook scored 303.30 points for third place to Johnston's 303.20 to grab the last spot in the finals. World Cup champion He Zi of China scored 396.95 for gold, with silver going to World Cup silver medalist Wu Minxia, also of China.

Cook also competed in synchronized 3-meter with Cassidy Krug (Coraopolis, Pa./Stanford, Calif.), finishing seventh with 284.82 points. China's He and Wu took gold at 334.20, followed by Canada's Jennifer Abel and Emilie Heymans with 315.00 points for silver and Italy's Francesca Dallape and Tania Cagnotto with 303.60 for bronze.

The 2011 FINA Diving World Series wraps up next week in Guanajuato, Mexico on April 22-23. The U.S. squad will consist of Boudia, Cook, Dumais, Ipsen, Johnston and Thomas Finchum (Indianapolis, Ind.).

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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