June 8, 2007

MADRID, Spain – Team USA didn’t let travel delays and jet lag get in the way of Grand Prix success. The road-weary U.S. divers responded with two medals on the first day of competition at the Comunidad de Madrid on Friday.

Haley Ishimatsu (Seal Beach, Calif.) and Mary Beth Dunnichay (Elwood, Ind.) won silver in 10-meter synchro, and Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) took the bronze on men’s 3-meter.

The two 14-year-olds scored 301.440 points in the women’s 10-meter synchro competition to medal just hours after finally arriving in Spain.

“Everyone did a great job today, especially Haley and Mary Beth, who didn’t get to bed until at least 1:15 and then were up at 7 for breakfast,” team leader Dan Laak said. “Two medals and three finalists on the first day, after the trip they had, we’re continuing to roll right along on the way to Beijing.”

The U.S. team departed Monday afternoon and had planned to arrive in Madrid on Tuesday afternoon, but a series of delays and cancellations caused most of the team to be stuck in airports and hotels throughout the week.

Only Laak and divers Chris Colwill (Brandon, Fla.) and Jevon Tarantino (Boca Raton, Fla.) were able to make it Madrid as planned. Dumais and Cassandra Cardinell (Loudonville, N.Y.) got in around 3 p.m. Thursday, but the bulk of the travel party – including Dunnichay and Ishimatsu – didn’t get to the hotel until 1:05 a.m. Friday, just hours before the meet was to start at 9:30 a.m.

Dumais scored 449.95 points to win the bronze in men’s 3-meter behind China’s Peng Bo (488.65) and Ukraine’s Illya Kvasha (463.70). Colwill was fourth at 444.65 after finishing 11 th in the prelims.

Cardinell took fifth in the women’s 10-meter final with 319.15 points. Ishimatsu also competed on the event and finished 10th with 265.70 points. China’s Lao Lishi won the gold at 384.85 points.

The Comunidad de Madrid runs through Sunday. Saturday’s competition includes men’s 3-meter synchro and 10-meter synchro finals, men’s 10-meter preliminaries and women’s 3-meter preliminaries, semifinals and finals.

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