Cassidy Krug moved closer to making her first Olympic diving team when she finished first in the 3-meter springboard semifinals at the U.S. trials Tuesday night in Federal Way.
Krug, who led after morning preliminaries, totaled 718.85 points and will take a 39.20-point lead over 2008 Olympian Christina Loukas into Saturday’s final.
Loukas had 679.65 points, with scores from prelims carrying over to the semis. Kassidy Cook was third at 653.25, followed by Bianca Alvarez at 626.00.
Kelci Bryant was fifth at 610.70 in her bid to make a second straight Olympics.
The top 12 women advanced to the final at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center. The two highest finishers earn berths to the London Games.
Krug, a former Stanford diver, was in first throughout the five-dive semifinal. Her highest-scoring dive came in the second round on a forward 31/2 somersaults that earned marks ranging from 8.0 to 8.5.
“I was still diving a little bit controlled for me,” she said. “In the finals, I really want to let my body go. I can do a little cleaner entries and a little faster spins – a little more.”
Loukas finished fourth on springboard at last year’s world championships in Shanghai, the best finish by an American woman at the meet since 1994, and was ninth at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
“This morning I was playing it a little safe and ended up not diving as well,” she said. “Tonight I was going for it more and it worked. I did feel more energy in the building, so that was fun. I love hearing my family yelling for me.”
MEN’S 10M PLATFORM
Nick McCrory’s consistency overcame David Boudia’s perfection in the 10-meter platform preliminaries.
McCrory totaled 512.80 points over six rounds to narrowly stay ahead of Boudia, who had 508.80. The duo partners on 10-meter synchronized diving, and they own a commanding lead going into Thursday’s final in that event.
Thomas Finchum, who finished 12th on platform at Beijing, was third at 496.95. Scores carry over each round, and the top three men had a sizeable lead over the other 15 divers who advanced to the evening semifinals. The trio boasts the most international experience of any U.S. man on platform.
McCrory faltered only on his last dive, but so did Boudia, who closed with the same backward 21/2 somersaults with 21/2 twists that McCrory did.
Boudia received three perfect marks of 10.0 on third and fourth dives, two that he said he typically struggles on. He entered the water with barely a splash on his third dive, a forward 41/2 somersaults, and again on his reverse 31/2 somersaults.
Boudia’s 10s came after he missed his second dive.
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