MISSION VIEJO, Calif. – Three U.S. divers were among those advancing to Sunday’s individual finals at the United States FINA Diving Grand Prix after preliminary and semifinal competition Friday. Briadam Herrera (Miami, Fla.) and Jordan Windle (Morrisville, N.C./Austin, Texas) advanced to the men’s 3-meter final and Amy Magaña (Indianapolis, Ind.) qualified for the women’s 10-meter final. In all, the U.S. will have seven individual finalists after picking up four spots on Thursday.
Herrera and Windle qualified for the 3-meter finals after going 1-2 in their men’s 3-meter semifinal, while Magana won her women’s 10-meter semifinal. In Grand Prix competition, the top 12 divers from the preliminaries advance to one of two semifinals. The top three from each semifinal qualify for the finals.
Herrera and Windle scored 405.05 and 398.80 points respectively to secure the top two spots in a 3-meter semifinal that came down to the final round. Just 5.65 points separated first from fourth with only three spots into the finals available. Herrera, who took the lead after an 81.70-point front 4 ½ tuck in round five, dove first and came through with 68.25 points on his reverse 1 ½ with 3 ½ twists in the final round. Windle, the final diver of the contest, secured his spot in the finals with 64.50 points on an inward 2 ½ pike. Egypt’s Mohab Ishak also advanced, finishing with 394.15 points.
Advancing out of the other men’s 3-meter semifinal were Great Britain’s James Heatley (422.70), Colombia’s Daniel Restrepo (377.90) and Great Britain’s Jordan Houlden (370.15).
Magaña placed first with 307.20 points in her 10-meter semifinal. After missing her back 3 ½ tuck for just 36.30 points in round two, Magaña rallied back with 64.50 points on a front 3 ½ pike and then closed out her list with 72 points apiece on her final two dives – an armstand double back somersault with 1 ½ twists and a back 2 ½ with 1 ½ twists.
Joining Magaña as finalists out of semifinal B will be Italy’s Noemi Batki (294.50) and Great Britain’s Gemma McArthur (289.00).
USA’s Olivia Rosendahl (Los Angeles/Evanston, Ill.) also advanced to the semifinals but did not qualify for the finals after placing fourth in her semifinal and seventh overall with 270.10 points. Rosendahl scored 58 points or higher on three of her first four dives, including a 64.40-point reverse 2 ½ tuck, but missed her back 2 ½ with 1 ½ twists in the final round.
Advancing out of the other women’s 10-meter semifinal were Australia’s Melissa Wu (287.40), Canada’s Elaena Dick (257.20) and Germany’s Maria Kurjo (253.15).
The U.S. had two other top 12 finishes in the women’s preliminaries, but only two divers per federation can advance to the semifnals. Magana was first and Rosendahl took fifth to earn the two spots into the semifinals. Sophia McAfee (San Marino, Calif.) was seventh, and Katrina Young (Shoreline, Wash./Tallahassee, Fla.) was 10th in the prelims.
McAfee scored 255.30 points, including three dives that earned 56 or more points. Her back 2 ½ with one twist scored 62.40 points in the final round. Young finished with 243.20 points, highlighted by an inward 3 ½ tuck that scored 62.40 points.
Mark Anderson (Lake Forest, Calif./Austin, Texas) took 19th with 326.20 points in the men’s 3-meter preliminaries, including 69.70 on his inward 3 ½ tuck in the final round. Andrew Capobianco (Holly Springs, N.C./Bloomington, Ind.) finished 35th with 269.95 points. He opened with 76.50 points on his front 2 ½ with two twists to post the highest score in the first round, but a miss on his front 4 ½ in round two dropped him out of contention.
The FINA Grand Prix continues through Sunday, April 14. Saturday’s competition features USA’s Hailey Hernandez and Krysta Palmer in the women’s 3-meter final and David Dinsmore and Brandon Loschiavo in the men’s 10-meter final. Saturday’s competition also includes Young and Samantha Bromberg in synchronized 10-meter, Windle and Anderson in men’s 3-meter synchro and McAfee and Max Weinrich in mixed 10-meter synchro.
