Dumais and Ipsen combine to win gold at USA Diving Grand Prix

Dumais and Ipsen combine to win gold

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Diver Troy Dumais and teen partner Kristian Ipsen of the United States won gold in the synchronized men’s 3-meter springboard competition with a 443.13 score at the USA Diving Grand Prix on Friday.

The 29-year-old Dumais, a three-time Olympian, continues to dive in hopes of inspiring up-andcoming American divers with the aim of restoring the United States as an international force in the sport.

The victory with the 16-year-old Ipsen signaled to Dumais that American diving is going in the right direction.

“Synchronized is all about doing your dives at the right time and the same time,” said Dumais, after the win at the Fort Lauderdale Aquatic Complex.

“He’s 16 and he can dive better than anybody and I’m proud to be part of a synchro team with him. He helps me just as much as, maybe, I help him.”

Dumais and Ipsen took control from the outset and never relinquished their lead in the field of eight teams.

The American duo finished with a reverse 2½ somersault with 1½ twists that had a degree of difficulty of 3.5. The dive earned the high score of the day with 94.50 points.

“That’s one of our best dives, so we like to save it for last just so we have something we know we’ll finish strong on,” Ipsen said. “It felt really good this time.”

The British team of Ben Swain and Nicholas Robinson-Baker took silver with 422.70.

Americans Christopher Colwill and Jevon Tarantino placed third with 410.70 points, but were unable to pick up the bronze as FINA rules state only one team per country can medal.

The bronze medal went to Alexandros Manos and Stefanos Paparounas of Greece, who scored 393.99 points.

Canadians Roseline Filion and Meaghan Benfeito won the synchronized women’s platform when they moved into first place on the final dive. They finished tops in the field of four with a score of 314.64.

They were happy to overcome the lack of practice time before the event, which was supposed to be 40 minutes but was reduced to 10 minutes.

“It was very stressful because we were supposed to have 40 minutes and we didn’t practice our synchro this week,” Benfeito said. “We were nervous. But we’ve been diving together for four or five years so we knew how to deal with it.”

Monique McCarroll and Megan Sylvester of Great Britain took silver with 310.62.

Americans Kaylea Arnett and Michelle Cabassol took the bronze with 289.92 points.