USA Diving

WILKINSON LOOKS TO DEFEND, HILDEBRAND ADVANCES

August 21, 2004

ATHENS, Greece – 2000 Olympic gold medalist Laura Wilkinson will look to defend her title in women’s 10-meter platform Sunday night after finishing 10th in cumulative point totals from the preliminaries and semifinals with 508.71 points. Sara Hildebrand will make her first Olympic finals appearance after finishing 11th with 489.18 points.

Wilkinson of Spring, Texas, and Hildebrand of St. Paul, Minn., rebounded nicely after having rough preliminary rounds on Friday afternoon. The good thing is the preliminary scores are now dropped and only the semifinal points will be carried forward. Therefore, Wilkinson is ranked fourth with 194.52 points and Hildebrand is ninth with 180.69.

“We are excited to go tomorrow and we are ready to get a second chance,” Wilkinson said. “It is great to qualify for the finals but when you have a teammate that is supporting you and you are supporting her, there is just so much more strength you get with two, that you don’t get with just one.”

Heading into the final dive Wilkinson was ranked 10th and Hildebrand was 13th. Hildebrand failed to qualify for the finals in 2000 finishing 13th with the top 12 advancing. Strangely enough that is where she found herself with one dive remaining but since she doesn’t watch the scoreboard she wasn’t aware she was even that close to qualifying.

“I am relieved because I didn’t think I was in there at all,” Hildebrand said. “I kind of removed myself from everyone and then they came over and told me I was in.”

The 2004 team has been considered one of the strongest and has really shown the team unity at these games. The unity and support was evident on Saturday afternoon with Hildebrand and Wilkinson following each other in diving order.

“I was really lucky today because I got to follow Sara and she was just shredding most of her dives,” Wilkinson said. “I got all excited for her so I felt like I performed better because she did.”

Wilkinson’s coach Ken Armstrong (Conroe, Texas) breathed a huge sigh of relief following her final dive in which she scored 50.16 points.

“We are very happy and it was a great performance today,” Armstrong said. “Laura was more relaxed today and just went in there and did her job. This was the hardest thing for her to do. Getting through the prelims and semis because now she has made it, so the pressure is off and she can just relax.”

According to Hildebrand’s coach Jeff Huber (Bloomington, Ind.) Hildebrand always likes to add drama to her competition.

“You have to know her because it has been drama for six years,” Huber said. “It was a great start for her and a great competition today. We are both very relieved especially after getting that close in Sydney. We are glad to have another day and show the world what she can do.”

Final round competition begins Sunday night at 9 p.m. (21:00) at the Olympic Aquatic Centre.

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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 LOOKS TO DEFEND, HILDEBRAND ADVANCES August 21, 2004 ATHENS, Greece – 2000 Olympic gold medalist Laura Wilkinson will look to defend her title in women’s 10-meter platform Sunday night after finishing 10th in cumulative point totals from the preliminaries and semifinals with 508.71 points. Sara Hildebrand will make her first Olympic finals appearance after finishing 11th with 489.18 points. Wilkinson of Spring, Texas, and Hildebrand of St. Paul, Minn., rebounded nicely after having rough preliminary rounds on Friday afternoon. The good thing is the preliminary scores are now dropped and only the semifinal points will be carried forward. Therefore, Wilkinson is ranked fourth with 194.52 points and Hildebrand is ninth with 180.69. “We are excited to go tomorrow and we are ready to get a second chance,” Wilkinson said. “It is great to qualify for the finals but when you have a teammate that is supporting you and you are supporting her, there is just so much more strength you get with two, that you don’t get with just one.” Heading into the final dive Wilkinson was ranked 10th and Hildebrand was 13th. Hildebrand failed to qualify for the finals in 2000 finishing 13th with the top 12 advancing. Strangely enough that is where she found herself with one dive remaining but since she doesn’t watch the scoreboard she wasn’t aware she was even that close to qualifying. “I am relieved because I didn’t think I was in there at all,” Hildebrand said. “I kind of removed myself from everyone and then they came over and told me I was in.” The 2004 team has been considered one of the strongest and has really shown the team unity at these games. The unity and support was evident on Saturday afternoon with Hildebrand and Wilkinson following each other in diving order. “I was really lucky today because I got to follow Sara and she was just shredding most of her dives,” Wilkinson said. “I got all excited for her so I felt like I performed better because she did.” Wilkinson’s coach Ken Armstrong (Conroe, Texas) breathed a huge sigh of relief following her final dive in which she scored 50.16 points. “We are very happy and it was a great performance today,” Armstrong said. “Laura was more relaxed today and just went in there and did her job. This was the hardest thing for her to do. Getting through the prelims and semis because now she has made it, so the pressure is off and she can just relax.” According to Hildebrand’s coach Jeff Huber (Bloomington, Ind.) Hildebrand always likes to add drama to her competition. “You have to know her because it has been drama for six years,” Huber said. “It was a great start for her and a great competition today. We are both very relieved especially after getting that close in Sydney. We are glad to have another day and show the world what she can do.” Final round competition begins Sunday night at 9 p.m. (21:00) at the Olympic Aquatic Centre. --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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