One more chance for U.S. divers to take on the world at Olympic qualifier
BETH HARRIS
Troy Dumais qualified for his fourth Olympic diving team Friday at King County Aquatic Center, joining Greg Louganis as the only American men to do so.
Dumais teamed with Kristian Ipsen to win the 3-meter springboard synchro title at the U.S. trials with 1,296.21 points.
“It’s very satisfying,” Dumais said. “Four Olympics is a phenomenal feat. Even Greg will tell you it’s nice to go to four Olympics, but it’s nicer working your tail off and achieving goals and going after the dreams that you have.”
Chris Colwill, a 2008 Olympian, and Drew Livingston finished second at 1,263.51, but only the winners earned berths in the London Games.
Dumais and Ipsen left the door open after their next-to-last dive, when their lead over Colwill and Livingston shrank to 24.78 points. Dumais and Ipsen struggled with their execution on a reverse 31/2 somersaults tuck, their toughest dive worth a 3.5 degree of difficulty. They earned 69.30 points, getting 5.0s for execution and 7.0s for synchronization.
Colwill and Livingston, diving just ahead of the leaders, did their best to put pressure on in the final round. They earned 79.80 points for a reverse 31/2 somersaults tuck, which carried a degree of difficulty of 3.5.
“They didn’t put it away for us and kept us interested,” said Livingston, who with his partner trailed by 27 points going into the final. “We said, ‘Let’s give them a contest and make them earn it.’ ”
Dumais and Ipsen did just that, hitting a forward 21/2 somersaults with two twists for 87.72 points to close out the six-round final.
“It was a one-dive contest. Going into it, both Troy and I pretended like we didn’t have a lead,” Ipsen said. “We were going in aggressive. We went after all of our dives.”
Justin and Dwight Dumais, Troy’s brothers, partnered to finish third with 1,151.46.
At 32, Troy Dumais is the veteran of the national team, with only an Olympic medal missing from his collection of hardware from world championships, Pan American Games, World Cups and national meets. In three previous Olympics, he finished no higher than sixth in individual competition and fourth on 3-meter synchro in 2000.
“That’s the goal, that’s the dream,” Dumais said of winning an Olympic medal of any color. “That’s why I’m not just going to sit back.”
Ipsen and Dumais won a silver medal in 3-meter synchro at the 2009 worlds in Rome, and they were fourth last year in Shanghai.
Dumais and Ipsen will go against each other in Sunday’s 3-meter springboard individual final. Ipsen owns a 39.60-point lead over second-place Dumais, while Colwill is third in his last chance to make a second consecutive Olympic team.
Today, David Boudia will try to add a second event in London when he competes in the 10-meter platform final. He already made the team in 10-meter synchro with Nick McCrory.
Cassidy Krug is first by 32.90 points going into the women’s 3-meter springboard final today, with 2008 Olympian Christina Loukas second. Loukas just missed making the team in 3-meter synchro when she and partner Kassidy Cook lost by 0.42 points to Abby Johnston and Kelci Bryant on Thursday.
