The U.S. team concluded the 2012 FINA Junior World Diving Championships with a bit of a whimper in the girl's 14-15 3-meter, but did put two divers into the finals in boy's 16-18 platform in the final event of the championships.
Both Steele Johnson and Andrew Cramer made the final finishing in 10th and 12th respectively in an event that ended up being a showcase for Olympic bronze medalist Tom Daley. Daley won by over 50 points and in his final two dives, 10 of his 14 scores were 10's. Yeah, he is technically a junior!
Neither Eszter Pryor (17th) nor Madison Witt (18th) made the final in the Group B (14-15) 3-meter in what I am sure was a bit of a disappointment for both girls. But the two did get some valuable experience that could carry over for 2014.
The final medal count was a runaway for China, as they finished with 22 medals, 10 of which were gold. Great Britain won 6 medals (3 gold), Australia 5, Russia 4, and Colombia and Mexico with 1 each. The U.S. team finished with three medals, highlighted by Gracia Leydon-Mahoney's win on 3-meter.
Here is an interesting statistic from the competition. If you look at the number of divers who made finals, the U.S. finished behind China and Australia with 18 divers advancing out of prelims. China put all of their divers into finals, and was the only country to do so. Australia had 21 in finals followed by the U.S. and then Russia with 17.
Only China and Australia had a diver in each of the 14 finals, with the U.S. only missing in 14-15 3-meter. Russia had a diver in 12 of the finals, Great Britain 11, Mexico 10 and Canada 9.
While the results might not have been as impressive as what happened in 2010 - 9 medals and a diver in all 14 finals, it is still better than the majority of the world.
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