USA Diving

WILKINSON AND HILDEBRAND ADVANCE TO SEMIFINAL

August 20, 2004

ATHENS, Greece – It was a pressure packed Friday afternoon at the Olympic Aquatic Centre for 34 divers in the women’s 10-meter platform hoping to finish in the top 18 to advance to the semifinal action Saturday, Aug. 21.

2000 Olympic gold medallist Laura Wilkinson (Spring, Texas) and 2000 Olympian Sara Hildebrand (St. Paul, Minn.) might not have turned in their best performance but they hung in there to finish 13th and 14th respectively.

“All of my practices, including this morning (prior to competition), have been great,” Wilkinson said. “I am a little frustrated because I didn’t do that in the meet. All my take offs were there, it was just a little off on the bottom but I am confident that will come. We have been working on that and I hope it will come out on Sunday.”

Following Rd. 4 she was 18th with 235.65 points. Going into the final dive she knew she had to perform her best to move up in the rankings to not only qualify for the semifinals but to give herself a better shot at advancing to the finals. The scores from the preliminary round carries over into the semifinals with the top eight combined score totals advancing to the final round.

Wilkinson’s final dive was a back 2 1⁄2 somersault 1 1⁄2 twists in the pike position (5253B). She scored 78.54 points moving her total to 314.19 and finishing 13th overall.

“It was so important to finish strong and move up in the rankings,” Wilkinson said. “We are now right on the bubble and if Sara and I just do our dives like we can do them we will move up. My goal in finals is just to hit all my dives and I know that is in me somewhere.”

That is also the goal of her coach Ken Armstrong (Conroe, Texas) who was pleased to see Wilkinson move up to 13th heading into the semifinals.

“We are definitely back in the hunt now,” Armstrong said. “All we need is some good required dives and we are right back in it.”

Hildebrand, who went 26th, was one place ahead of Wilkinson going into the final dive with 238.11 points on four dives. Hildebrand, who considers herself an underdog in this event, finished strong with the same dive as Wilkinson. Hildebrand turned in a score of 70.38 points to finish 14th with 308.49 points.

“I am very pleased with where I finished,” Hildebrand said. “I know my voluntaries tomorrow will be good and they should move me on.

Hildebrand’s coach Jeff Huber (Bloomington, Ind.) was pleased to see her advance despite being off a little bit on a couple of her dives.

“I was extremely pleased with her composure and she showed a lot of confidence,” Huber said. “She is were we want her to be and that is real important. She is just a little bit off on a few dives but she hasn’t shown what she is capable of.”

Semifinal round action gets underway at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21 with the finals Sunday, Aug. 22 at 9 p.m.

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USA Diving is the national governing body for the sport of diving. Headquartered in Indianapolis, USA Diving offers diversified programs geared toward the broadest number of diving enthusiasts, from the novice to the world champion. USA Diving conducts approximately 40 regional and national events annually, sanctions hundreds of events managed by its 350 member clubs and is responsible for training and selecting teams that represent the United States at international events such as the Olympic Games, World Championships and Pan American Games.

- USAD –

For additional information, please contact Ann Bleiker, diving press officer, at ann.bleiker@usoc.org or 011-30-636-677-2093. Information can also be found at www.usadiving.org, www.usolympicteam.com or www.nbcolympics.com.

USA Diving

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WILKINSON AND HILDEBRAND ADVANCE TO SEMIFINAL August 20, 2004 ATHENS, Greece – It was a pressure packed Friday afternoon at the Olympic Aquatic Centre for 34 divers in the women’s 10-meter platform hoping to finish in the top 18 to advance to the semifinal action Saturday, Aug. 21. 2000 Olympic gold medallist Laura Wilkinson (Spring, Texas) and 2000 Olympian Sara Hildebrand (St. Paul, Minn.) might not have turned in their best performance but they hung in there to finish 13th and 14th respectively. “All of my practices, including this morning (prior to competition), have been great,” Wilkinson said. “I am a little frustrated because I didn’t do that in the meet. All my take offs were there, it was just a little off on the bottom but I am confident that will come. We have been working on that and I hope it will come out on Sunday.” Following Rd. 4 she was 18th with 235.65 points. Going into the final dive she knew she had to perform her best to move up in the rankings to not only qualify for the semifinals but to give herself a better shot at advancing to the finals. The scores from the preliminary round carries over into the semifinals with the top eight combined score totals advancing to the final round. Wilkinson’s final dive was a back 2 1⁄2 somersault 1 1⁄2 twists in the pike position (5253B). She scored 78.54 points moving her total to 314.19 and finishing 13th overall. “It was so important to finish strong and move up in the rankings,” Wilkinson said. “We are now right on the bubble and if Sara and I just do our dives like we can do them we will move up. My goal in finals is just to hit all my dives and I know that is in me somewhere.” That is also the goal of her coach Ken Armstrong (Conroe, Texas) who was pleased to see Wilkinson move up to 13th heading into the semifinals. “We are definitely back in the hunt now,” Armstrong said. “All we need is some good required dives and we are right back in it.” Hildebrand, who went 26th, was one place ahead of Wilkinson going into the final dive with 238.11 points on four dives. Hildebrand, who considers herself an underdog in this event, finished strong with the same dive as Wilkinson. Hildebrand turned in a score of 70.38 points to finish 14th with 308.49 points. “I am very pleased with where I finished,” Hildebrand said. “I know my voluntaries tomorrow will be good and they should move me on. Hildebrand’s coach Jeff Huber (Bloomington, Ind.) was pleased to see her advance despite being off a little bit on a couple of her dives. “I was extremely pleased with her composure and she showed a lot of confidence,” Huber said. “She is were we want her to be and that is real important. She is just a little bit off on a few dives but she hasn’t shown what she is capable of.” Semifinal round action gets underway at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 21 with the finals Sunday, Aug. 22 at 9 p.m. --30-- USA Diving is the national governing body for the sport of diving. Headquartered in Indianapolis, USA Diving offers diversified programs geared toward the broadest number of diving enthusiasts, from the novice to the world champion. USA Diving conducts approximately 40 regional and national events annually, sanctions hundreds of events managed by its 350 member clubs and is responsible for training and selecting teams that represent the United States at international events such as the Olympic Games, World Championships and Pan American Games. - USAD – For additional information, please contact Ann Bleiker, diving press officer, at ann.bleiker@usoc.org or 011-30-636-677-2093. Information can also be found at www.usadiving.org, www.usolympicteam.com or www.nbcolympics.com. .
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