No matter what happened on the final dive, Kristian Ipsen and Troy Dumais were already bound for the London Olympics.
Chris Colwill didn’t have that security.
With his Olympic hopes on the line, Colwill’s final dive in the men’s 3-meter springboard finals Sunday at the U.S. Olympic trials was the highest scoring dive of the competition at King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way.
Colwill rallied from third place to win the men’s 3-meter event, while Dumais held off Ipsen in the final round to finish second and reach his fourth Olympics in the event.
“Competing in the Olympics, that definitely was the biggest pressure, but I felt like I did a good job and enjoy myself and have fun and not worry so much about how the event was going to go and embrace the environment,” Colwill said.
The other final Sunday had Brittany Viola, daughter of 1988 Cy Young Award-winning pitcher Frank Viola, win the women’s 10-meter platform in her third attempt to make the Olympics.
Viola dominated the competition, winning by nearly 60 points ahead of second place Katie Bell, who claimed the other qualifying spot for the London Games. Viola scored 86.40 on her second-round dive, an armstand back dive from the platform with two somersaults and 11/2 twists, getting all 9s from the judges.
“A greater perspective that this is just another meet,” Viola said of her previous trials experiences. “Although there are a lot of lights and colors and Olympic rings everywhere, it comes down to the diver and the platform and that’s something Katie and I can take into the Olympics.”
Colwill was third after the preliminaries and third after the semifinals, positions that would have left him out of the Olympics if the finals held to form.
He entered the finals more than 42 points behind Ispen, but was the best of the trio in the finale. He scored at least 74 points on all six of his dives and qualified for his second Olympics in the event. Colwill finished 12th at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing.
Ipsen and Dumais were already headed to London together as the U.S. representative in the synchronized 3-meter springboard competition. For Dumais, it will be his fourth trip, tying Greg Louganis as the only American men to make four Olympic diving teams.
Entering the final round, the three divers were separated by a mere 2.40 points and all three had their favorite dives for their finale.
Colwill scored 99.75, the highest of the competition, on a reverse 31/2 somersaults on his final dive that because of a higher degree-of-difficulty than the other two, all but clinched the title.
Dumais moved his signature dive, a forward 21/2 somersaults with two twists pike, to the final round, thinking the event could come down to the last dive.
The decision was a wise one, with Dumais scoring 91.80 and forcing Ispen to score 93.05 to tie. Ipsen’s final dive was excellent — a reverse 11/2 with 31/2 twists — but his 91.80 score wasn’t enough to overcome Duamis’ lead for the second Olympic spot.
“I thought I had made it,” Ipsen said.
Ipsen led throughout the competition until the fifth-round when his reverse 31/2 somersaults came up well short and scored 47.25 points. His entire lead was gone and an audible gasp came from the crowd when the scoreboard showed Ipsen in third place.
“I knew this was going to be a nail-biter. I knew it was and that’s why I switched my list … knowing it was going to come down to the last dive,” Dumais said.
For Viola, this was her third Olympic trials. She barely missed a trip to Beijing, finishing fourth in 2008. Viola’s dad wasn’t able to get away from his job as pitching coach for the Savannah Sand Gnats, the New York Mets’ Single-A affiliate, to attend but told his daughter he would be watching on a clubhouse television and likely not doing much coaching.
“I know that he is watching every moment,” Viola said.
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