March 23, 2007

Dumais takes seventh in competition to remember at World Championships

MELBOURNE, Australia – It was a men’s 3-meter competition for the ages Friday night at the FINA World Championships, and Troy Dumais was right in the midst of it.

Dumais received 12 marks of 9.0 or better throughout the night and still finished seventh with 487.60 points.

The competition was that good.

Gold medalist Qin Kai of China received only four scores lower than 9.0 all night and finished with 545.35 points. Canada’s Alexandre Despatie received 518.65 points for silver. Bronze medalist Dmitry Sautin of Russia scored eight 10’s – including straight 10s on his reverse 2 ½ -- and finished with 517.10 points.

In all, 18 10s were awarded throughout the night. The top eight finishers all had at least one dive that scored more than 90 points.

For Dumais, it was his reverse 3 ½ in the fifth round. He earned 92.75 points to move him into fourth place with one dive to go. In the final round, though, he received mostly 7.5s on his reverse 2 ½ with 1 ½ twists and dropped to seventh.

“I didn’t do my last dive like I needed to to medal, but I’m not displeased,” Dumais said. “I’m happy with how I competed, but I’ve got to work on some things so that next time, that dive goes for 9s.”

The World Championships continue with women’s 3-meter and men’s 10-meter preliminaries on Saturday. Kelci Bryant, Nancilea (Underwood) Foster, David Boudia and Thomas Finchum will compete for USA.

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