Women’s 10-meter preview (Women’s 10-meter preliminaries are Wednesday, June 18. Semifinals are June 20, and finals are June 22)
2000 Olympic gold medalist Laura Wilkinson (Spring, Texas) is aiming for her third Olympics, and 2004 Olympian Cassandra Cardinell (Loudonville, N.Y./Bloomington, Ind.) hopes to make a second team, this time on an individual event.
Standing in their way are 10 others – including three of Wilkinson’s Woodlands Diving Academy teammates and two divers who train with Cardinell at Indiana Diving – who are looking to make an Olympic roster for the first time.
Wilkinson, a 19-time national champion and 2005 world champion, heads into the Trials after winning silver at the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix last month in Fort Lauderdale. Now 30, she won gold at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney and took fifth in Athens in 2004.
Cardinell, who was second at the 2007 Kaiser Permanente National Championships, competed in synchronized 10-meter in Athens and has her eyes on an individual 10-meter berth this time around.
Also watch for 15-year-old Haley Ishimatsu (Seal Beach, Calif./Indianapolis, Ind.), who led the U.S. with an eighth-place finish on 10-meter at the World Cup in Beijing and won silver at last year’s Pan American Games.
Brittany Viola (Orlando, Fla./Coral Gables, Fla.) took second at the 2004 Trials and won the 2008 NCAA title on platform before finishing third behind Wilkinson and Ishimatsu at the 2008 Speedo USA Diving Spring National Championships.
Other hopefuls include Wilkinson’s Woodlands training partners Jessica Livingston (The Woodlands, Texas), who has paired with Wilkinson for three synchronized diving national titles; Michelle Cabassol (Montgomery, Texas), the youngest competitor in the field; and Vennie Dantin (The Woodlands, Texas). Cabassol and Dantin both won junior national titles in their age groups last year, and Cabassol took fourth on platform at this year’s spring nationals.
Rounding out field are Cardinell’s Indiana Diving teammates Lindsay Wiegle (Bloomington, Ind.) and Amy Korthauer (Naperville, Ill./Bloomington, Ind.), as well as Kristen Asman (Columbus, Ohio), Heather Bounds (Round Rock, Texas/Miami, Fla.) and Mary Beth Dunnichay (Elwood, Ind.).
The winner of the Trials will be nominated to the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team. The top six finishers will move on to an Olympic team selection camp, set for July 2-6 in Knoxville, Tenn., where the second individual spot will be decided. The winner must also participate in the camp to demonstrate competitive readiness.
Women’s 10-meter (Hometown/Current Residence/Club) Kristen Asman (Columbus, Ohio/Unattached) Heather Bounds (Round Rock, Texas/Miami, Fla./Miami Diving) Michelle Cabassol (Montgomery, Texas/Woodlands Diving Academy) Cassandra Cardinell (Loudonville, N.Y./Bloomington, Ind./Indiana Diving) Vennie Dantin (Conroe, Texas/Woodlands Diving Academy) Mary Beth Dunnichay (Elwood, Ind./Unattached) Haley Ishimatsu (Seal Beach, Calif./Indianapolis, Ind./Unattached) Amy Korthauer (Naperville, Ill./Bloomington, Ind./Indiana Diving) Jessica Livingston (The Woodlands, Texas/Woodlands Diving Academy) Brittany Viola (Orlando, Fla./Miami, Fla./University of Miami) Lindsey Weigle (Bloomington, Ind./Indiana Diving) Laura Wilkinson (Spring, Texas/The Woodlands, Texas/Woodlands Diving Academy)