Fun fact: Many — actually, most — of the country’s top NCAA coaches were once college gymnasts themselves. Funner fact: Some of their routines (and even fluff pieces) are available on Youtube. …
Tanya (Service) Chaplin
Dana (Dobransky) Duckworth
Rhonda Faehn
Kristen Smyth
Kristen Maloney
Tabitha Yim
Tom Trapp, by the way, is the new Diving Examiner:
USA Diving announced today the coaching staff for the 2011 FINA World Diving Championships to be held this July in Shanghai, China. Leading the team as Head Coach will be Drew Johansen, Coach at Duke University. His position was earned based on his divers Nick McCrory and Abby Johnston making the team in 3 events. …
Canadian ‘Synchro Sisters’ Strike Gold at FINA Grand Prix Meet.
The Canadian 10 meter synchronized National team duo of Carol-Ann and Pamela Ware struck gold at the 2011 USA Diving International Grand Prix held May 5 – 8 at the Hall of Fame Aquatic complex next to the beach in Ft. Lauderdale FL.This is one of the most popular venues for elite divers as after your event is over, it’s a 5 minute walk to the Atlantic for some tanning and body surfing!
The sister pair had a great 5 dive event defeating the USA team of high school students, Anna James of Midland TX and 2008 Olympian Mary Beth Dunnichay, by 6 points.The bronze went to the German team of Steuer and Subchinski.
The Canadian Diving Association sent a smaller team than the number that participated in last weeks Canada Cup giving several divers a well deserved rest.
This was the only medal for Canada in the meet but at least it was the right color!
On the men’s side, the only finalists were Kevin Geyson and Eric Sehn who placed 8th in the Men’s 10 meter synchro.
Next up for the Canadian National Team will be the continuation of the Grand Prix series to be held in Germany, May 27 to 29.
The Canadian Women’s National Diving Team turned in a stellar performance at the 2011 Canada Cup held in Montreal at the 1976 Olympic pool. Leading the team was Roseline Filion with a gold medal in the women’s 10 meter event and a personal best score of 379 points outdistanced the Chinese divers by 9 and 20 points for the silver and bronze medals. The Chinese pair opened the door for Roseline by missing back to back dives in the 4th round ( both divers doing a back 3 & 1/2 tuck). …
While the men had a formidable team, they did not receive any medals this time but did have several finalists in the synchro events. Attending the meet but not competing was Canada’s best male diver, Olympian Alexander Despatie. It is unknown why he did not dive. Could it be he is saving himself for the World Championships? The redeeming result for the rest of the men was several of them making or surpassing the scoring standard to be placed on Canada’s World Championship team …
One of the highlights of the meet was Australian Matthew Mitcham’s gold medal performance on 10 meter. The 2008 Olympic Games gold medalist in this event scored 7 perfect 10′s on his back 3 & 1/2 tuck topping off a great execution with a flawless “rip” entry.He suffered an abdominal strain before the meet and opted to go with lower degree of difficulty dives. This decision was a major factor in his victory as the chinese went for super high D.D. dives but missed their usual splashless entries.
China was the high point team with a medal count of 10 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze, Canada second with 7 total and Australia third with 5 all together.The surprise of the meet was the Japanese men’s team who took the bronze in both the 3 meter and 3 meter synchro events. This is the sleeper group for the 2012 Games next year and should be a force to be reckoned with. …
China got six out of the eight titles on offer in the fourth and final leg of the FINA/Midea Diving World Series 2011, held in Guanajuato (MEX), on April 22-23. The only non-Chinese victories went to the local divers, with Yahel Castillo/Daniel Islas winning the men’s 3m springboard and Ivan Garcia/German Sanchez triumphing in the men’s 10m platform synchro. …
Tom Trapp, US Diving Coach and judge, sends us a brief report on the rest of the North Americans:
AMERICANS AND CANADIANS BRING HOME 10 MEDALS FROM THE FINA WORLD SERIES FINAL MEET IN MEXICO
Silver was the primary color of the meet for USA Diving and
Canadian National Teams as they collectively won 9 silver and 1
bronze at the FINA World Series of Diving Final held April 22 & 23 in
Guanajuato Mexico. This was the last event of the World Series and
was only open to those countries who faired well at the 2010 World
Cup.
The Canadian National Team was only eligible for women’s events
and entered 4 divers in 4 events.
TEAM CANADA RESULTS:
Women’s 10 meter final: Roseline Filion – 5th.
Women’s 3 meter synchro: Jennifer Abel & Emilie Heymans – 2nd
Women’s 3 meter final: Jennifer Abel – 2nd /Emilie Heymans – 5th
Men’s 3 meter final: Troy Dumais 5th / Kristian Ipsen – 6th
Men’s 10 meter synchro: David Boudia & Thomas Finchum – 2nd
Women’s 3 meter final: Kassidy Cook – 3rd
Men’s 3 meter synchro: Troy Dumais & Kristian Ipsen – 2nd
The USA team finished 2nd in the men’s team results, 5th in women’s
and 3rd overall.
Next up for both countries is the annual Canada Cup held in Montreal
April 28 through May 1. This international meet will feature the best national teams from all FINA* countries and promises to be a great event.
It is a feat of competition diving so difficult it was once thought impossible …
Teenage star Tom Daley and his Olympic partner Pete Waterfield completed four-and-a-half somersaults in under two seconds – the blink of an eye it takes to hit the water from the 10-metre board. And what’s more, they did it synchronised …
…
Click over to the Daily Mail to see just how synchronized they were.
Divers are much more artistic than Artistic gymnasts.
… But are they are allowed to “cowboy” saltos on some skills. Leave a comment if you know the rules on that. (Perhaps we could get more specific on our gymnastics regulations.)
UPDATE: From Mike:
D 8.5.2 During the flight, the position of the dive shall be at all times aesthetically pleasing. Should any of the positions not be shown as described below, each judge shall deduct ½ to 2 points, according to his opinion.
Tuck (C)
D 8.5.7 In the tuck position the body shall be compact, bent at the knees and hips with the knees and feet together. The hands shall be on the lower legs and the toes pointed.
It’s not specifically “allowed”. But is used as judges evaluate from the side.
If you’re not one of the 71 participating teams, likely you ignore this meet. But it’s VERY important for the former British Empire nations that do go.
I used to think the “bullying” problem in schools was often overblown by the media.
Seems I’m wrong.
Two 11-year-old boys in the States took their own lives this month. Both deaths blamed on school bullying.
And in the U.K. …
British diver Tom Daley, who at age 14 finished seventh in the men’s individual 10-meter platform final at last summer’s Beijing Olympics, has been temporarily removed from school after being repeatedly bullied by his classmates, according to a story published Friday in the British newspaper The Guardian.
Tom Daley is still 14; he turns 15 on May 21. In the meantime, his father, Rob Daley, told the newspaper the son had been kept at home this week so as to reduce distraction in advance of an upcoming meet in Florida.
“The bullying is severe,†the father said. “He has been tackled to the floor walking through the school field and in class they throw pens and pencils at him.
“Some of them have even threatened to break his legs. That was the last straw. It has got to the point where enough is enough.†…
I used to think the “bullying” problem in schools was often overblown by the media. 
