May 10, 2007

FORT LAUDERDALE , Fla. – Chris Colwill (Brandon, Fla.) and Jevon Tarantino (Boca Raton, Fla.) won the bronze medal in the men’s 3-meter synchronized diving event at the AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex on Thursday night.

The duo, who won the U.S. national title last month, scored 388.38 points to claim their first international medal together. They have been training as a synchro team for only a month. China’s Luo Yutong and He Chong won the gold with 438.99 points, and Italy’s Tomasso Marconi and Nicola Marconi were second at 392.37. Colwill and Tarantino edged out the other American team for the final spot on the medal stand as Troy Dumais ( Austin, Texas) and Mitch Richeson ( Greenwood, Ind.) took fourth with 386.49 points.

Dumais and Colwill also advanced to the men’s individual 3-meter finals, to be held Saturday. The two were fourth and fifth, respectively, in the prelims and then each finished second in their semifinals. Dumais took second in semifinal A with 433.40 points, and Colwill scored 421.85 points to take second in semifinal B. The top three in each semi move onto the finals. Luo led all semifinalists with 465.60 points. Also advancing to the finals are China’s Wang Feng (454.60), Italy’s Tomasso Marconi (425.45) and Brazil’s Cesar Castro (404.20). Tarantino was eighth with 384.20 points in the prelims, but only two divers per country can advance to the semifinals. Matt Cooper ( Bethesda, Md.) was 19 th at 322.20.

In the women’s 10-meter prelims, U.S. divers finished four-five-six, but again only two could advance on. Cassandra Cardinell ( Loudonville, N.Y.), who was fourth in the prelims, scored 323.30 points to finish second in semifinal A to move into Saturday’s finals. Laura Wilkinson (Spring, Texas) was fifth in the prelims but finished fifth with 282.40 points in her semifinal to miss out on the finals. Haley Ishimatsu ( Seal Beach, Calif.) was sixth in the prelims at 306.45. Heather Bounds (Round Rock, Texas) made her international debut for Team USA and placed 16 th with 253.65 points. Other finalists are China’s Chen Roulin (383.20) and Wang Xin (364.60), Canada’s Emilie Heymans (372.35) and Roseline Filion (331.65) and Japan’s Mai Nakagawa (314.05).

The AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix runs through Sunday, May 13. Friday’s competition features women’s 3-meter prelims, men’s 10-meter prelims and women’s 3-meter synchro finals. The AT&T blue room will feature a live webcast of the event on Saturday, May 12, and Sunday, May 13, at www.attblueroom.com/teamusa.

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