Christina Loukas was both consistent and good as she finished in the lead after the preliminaries at the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials in Indianapolis. The Riverwoods, Ill., native received no score lower than a 7.5 after a nervous first dive, and leads the prelims by almost 30 points over Ariel Rittenhouse.
“I was a little jittery on my first dive,” said Loukas who is coached by Indiana University diving coach Jeff Huber. “Right now I am pleased with my performance.”
Despite showing a bit of nervousness, Loukas managed to earn scores ranging from 6.5 to 7.5 on her first dive, an inward 2 ½ somersaults in pike. Combined with a 25-point cushion earned from her fourth place finish at the 2008 FINA World Cup, she will take a substantial lead into the semifinals.
Second place finisher Ariel Rittenhouse posted the best score of the day, rebounding from an inward 2 ½ somersaults in pike that fell short of vertical on her first dive. “At first you are a bit nervous, and then you get into a rhythm,” said Rittenhouse.
Her rhythm included scoring 72.00 points on each of her final three dives, showing the kind of consistency that it will take to compete in Beijing.
“I’m very happy. My goal is to do my dives like I do in practice.”
Nancilea Foster looked strong throughout the event and had the highest scoring dive of the contest on her fourth dive, a forward 2 ½ somersaults with 1 ½ twists. Her final dive though was her undoing, as she received scores of 5 and 5.5 on a reverse 2 ½ somersaults in pike and dropped to third place, despite entering the event with a 15-point cushion.
The women will dive again in the semifinals in the evening session of diving on Thursday, with the finals to take place on Saturday, June 21.
- Christina Loukas (Riverwoods, Ill) – 370.80
- Ariel Rittenhouse (Santa Cruz, Calif.) – 341.15
- Nancilea Foster (Conroe, Texas) – 338.80
- Victoria Ishimatsu (Seal Beach, Calif.) – 310.50
- Kelci Bryant (Chatham, Ill.) – 309.50
- Cassidy Krug (Pittsburgh, Pa.) – 302.05
- Mary Yarrison (Springfield, Va.) – 297.00
- Amanda Miller (Centreville, Va.) – 295.85
- Allison Brennan (Huntington Beach, Calif.) – 295.45
- Chelsea Davis (Columbus, Ohio) – 286.80
- Summer Allman (Dallas, Texas) – 266.95
- Michelle Cabassol (Montgomery, Texas) – 236.70
- Abby Johnston (Upper Arlington, Ohio) - 227.40
Women’s Three-meter Springboard Preliminaries