2004 U.S. Olympic Team Preview

Team USA returns four Olympians from the 2000 Sydney Games - Laura Wilkinson (platform gold medallist), Mark Ruiz, Troy Dumais and Sara (Reiling) Hildebrand. The remaining seven members are far from green when it comes to international competition. Team USA also boasts experience and proven talent from the World Championships, World Cup, Pan American Games, World University Games and Goodwill Games.

Women's 3-meter
Kimiko Hirai Soldati (Magnolia, Texas) and Rachelle Kunkel (West Valley City, Utah) placed 1-2 at the Olympic Trials in women's 3-meter. Soldati has been in and out of international competitions with injuries, but placed sixth at the FINA Diving World Cup in 2002 and third at the Goodwill Games in 2001. Kunkel placed fourth at the Speedo FINA Diving Grand Prix in May 2004 and second at the Speedo American Cup in 2003.

Women's 10-meter
Wilkinson (Spring, Texas), 2000 gold medallist, is going into the Olympics with a string of wins nationally and top finishes internationally. She won the FINA Diving World Cup in Athens earlier this year and placed second in 2003 at the Canada Cup and the Speedo FINA Diving Grand Prix. Hildebrand (St. Paul, Minn.) will join Wilkinson on the women's 10-meter, as she did in 2000. Hildebrand finished fifth at the Speedo FINA Diving Grand Prix in May this year and fourth at the 2003 Speedo FINA Diving Grand Prix. She won the 2003 Speedo American Cup. Hildebrand placed 13th in 2000 at the Olympic Games, just missing the finals.

Women's 10-meter Synchro
Hildebrand will join teammate Cassandra Cardinell (Loudonville, N.Y.) on the women's synchro team. In 2003, the pair of Indiana University divers placed fourth at the Pan American Games and second at the Grand Prix Super Final. They also won the Speedo American Cup.

Men's 3-meter
Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) heads to Athens with six straight national first place finishes on 3-meter, dating back to 2002. Internationally, Dumais placed fourth at the Speedo FINA Diving Grand Prix in May, seventh at the World Cup in Athens earlier this year and third at the 2003 Pan American Games. In the 2000 Olympic Games Dumais finished sixth. Joining Dumais on 3-meter is Justin Wilcock (Smithfield, Utah). Wilcock has emerged in the last two years placing second at the 2004 Speedo American Cup and World Cup Trials. Internationally, he finished eighth at the Speedo FINA Diving Grand Prix in 2004 and tenth in 2003.

Men's 10-meter
Caesar Garcia (Baton Rouge, La.) nailed 17 straight dives to make the U.S. Olympic Team, dominating the competition at the Trials. In 2003 he finished third at the Italian Grand Prix, second at the Speedo American Cup and sixth at the Speedo FINA Diving Grand Prix. Joining Garcia on men's 10-meter will be Kyle Prandi (Strongsville, Ohio). Prandi finished second at the FINA/USA Diving Grand Prix in 2001, and tenth at the World University Games.

Men's 3-meter Synchro
Justin Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) will join his brother, Troy, and compete for a gold medal in Athens on men's 3-meter synchro. The brothers have won seven straight national competitions on 3-meter, dating back to 2001. In May of 2004 they won the Speedo FINA Diving Grand Prix, and placed fourth at the FINA Diving World Cup earlier this year. In 2003 they placed third at the Pan American Games and the Grand Prix Super Final. The Dumais brothers took second place at the 2003 Speedo FINA Diving Grand Prix.

Men's 10-meter Synchro
Ruiz (Orlando, Fla.) and Prandi team up to compete in the men's 10-meter synchro at Athens. They placed fifth at the 2004 Speedo FINA Diving Grand Prix and sixth at the 2004 FINA Diving World Cup. In 2003 they finished third at the Pan American Games.

World Outlook
Women's 3-meter
Russia's Yulia Pakhalina took the gold medal at the 2004 World Cup in Athens earlier this year. China's Guo Jingjing and Wu Minxia rounded out the top three. Jingjing was the silver medallist in the 2000 Olympic Games.

Women's 10-meter
Australia's Loudy Tourky and Japan's Takiri Miyazaki took second and third places behind Laura Wilkinson at the 2004 World Cup. Tourky was the bronze medallist in the 2000 Olympic Games.

Women's 10-meter Synchro
China, Canada and Mexico grabbed all three medals at the 2004 World Cup in the 10-meter synchro. China and Canada finished one-two at the 2000 Olympics as well. USA finished fourth at the World Cup.

Men's 3-meter
Alexandre Despatie took home the gold medal for Canada at the World Cup in Athens. China's Wang Feng and Peng Bo took home silver and bronze, respectively.

Men's 10-meter
China won the top two spots on men's 10-meter platform at the 2004 World Cup. Tian Liang and Hu Jia won the gold and silver, respectively, just as they did in the 2000 Olympic Games. Canada's Alexandre Despatie was third.

Men's 3-meter Synchro
Peng Bo also grabbed another medal with his first place syncrho finish at the 2004 World Cup with Wang Kenan for China. Australia finished second and Germany grabbed the bronze medal, just four points ahead of the Dumais brothers.

Men's 10-meter Synchro
Tian Liang and Yang Jingui picked up another gold for China at the World Cup. Tian was a silver medallist in this event at the 2000 Olympics. Great Britain's synchro team finished second and Canada finished third.