Competition heating up at FINA Diving Grand Prix in Mission Viejo

Four Americans are among the divers qualifying for Saturday’s individual finals at the FINA Diving Grand Prix after preliminary and semifinal competition Thursday at Mission Viejo’s Marguerite Aquatics Complex.

Hailey Hernandez (Southlake, Texas) and Krysta Palmer (Carson City, Nevada) have advanced to Saturday’s women’s 3-meter finals, and David Dinsmore (New Albany, Ohio) and Brandon Loschiavo (Huntington Beach, Calif.) qualified for the men’s 10-meter final.

Hernandez qualified for the finals after winning the women’s 3-meter semifinal B, while Palmer took third in semifinal A. Dinsmore and Loschiavo each took second in their respective 10-meter semifinals. In Grand Prix competition, the top 12 divers from the preliminaries advance to one of two semifinals. The top three from each semifinal qualify for the finals.

Hernandez scored 304.30 points to win the women’s 3-meter semifinal B. After opening with 56.70 points on an inward 2 ½ tuck, she scored 60 points or higher on each of her remaining four dives. Her back 2 ½ and reverse 2 ½ tucks each earned 63 points.  Australia’s Georgia Sheehan and Italy’s Elena Bertocchi also qualified out of semifinal B with 282.60 and 273.65 points respectively.

Palmer rallied to take third with 255.10 points in semifinal A. In sixth place with two dives to go, Palmer came through with 62 points on a front 3 ½ pike in round four before closing out her list with 62.90 points on a front 2 ½ with two twists to secure the third and final qualifying spot by 5.95 points over Russia’s Maria Polyakova. Mexico’s Melany Hernandez won the semifinal with 281.15 points, and Italy’s Chiara Pellacani qualified second at 271.90.

Dinsmore scored 415.70 points in the men’s 10-meter semifinal A to finish second behind Great Britain’s Matthew Dixon, who won the semifinal with 428.20 points. Dinsmore earned 86.70 points on a reverse 3 ½ tuck and had 86.40 points on a back 2 ½ with 2 ½ twists to secure his spot in the finals. Canada’s Nathan Zsombor-Murray grabbed the final qualifying spot with 400.05 points.

Loschiavo finished with 389.00 points for second in the men’s 10-meter semifinal B, with Mexico’s Randall Willars scoring 474.00 for first. Loschiavo opened with 80 points on an inward 3 ½ tuck and closed out his list with 75.60 points on a back 2 ½ with 2 ½ twists. Australia’s Cassiel Rosseau rounded out those advancing to finals after placing third at 366.30.

The U.S. had three other top 12 finishes in the preliminaries, but only two divers per federation can advance to the semifinals.

Zach Cooper (Greenwood, Ind./Miami, Fla.) and Tyler Downs (Ballwin, Mo./Indianapolis, Ind.) finished in the top 12 in the men’s 10-meter preliminaries but could not advance as Dinsmore and Loschiavo finished ahead of them. Cooper finished 10th with 361.15 points and had three dives scoring 70 points or higher, including an inward 3 ½ tuck that earned 76.80 points. Downs took 12th at 356.45, highlighted by an inward 3 ½ tuck and a back 2 ½ with 1 ½ twists that scored 67.20 points apiece.

Lauren Reedy (Rochester Hills, Mich./Columbia, Mo.) finished 10th with 258.20 points in the women’s 3-meter preliminaries but could not advance to the semifinals as Palmer was fourth and Hernandez seventh in the prelims. Reedy scored 52 points or higher on four of her five dives, including 64.50 points on a front 2 ½ with one twist in the opening round. She added 54 points on an inward 2 ½ pike, but a miss for 34.50 points on a reverse 2 ½ pike put her behind Palmer and Hernandez in the preliminary standings.

Emily Bretscher (Knoxville, Tenn./West Lafayette, Ind.) made her international debut with 14th place and 234.90 points in the 3-meter preliminaries. Bretscher scored 52.50 points on a back 2 ½ pike in round two and closed out her list with 57 points on a front 2 ½ with one twist for her highest scoring dive.

The FINA Grand Prix runs through Sunday, April 14 at 27474 Casta Del Sol. Today’s competition features men’s 3-meter and women’s 10-meter preliminaries and semifinals. Mark Anderson, Andrew Capobianco, Briadam Herrera and Jordan Windle will dive 3-meter. Amy Magana, Sophia McAfee, Olivia Rosendahl and Katrina Young will compete on 10-meter.

Get your tickets online today and find out more about the event on USA Diving’s events page.  The competition will be broadcast by Mission Viejo Television on Saturday and Sunday and streamed live at https://www.youtube.com/MissionViejoCA.