U.S. Outdoor Diving Championships : Louganis, Baker-Schultz Get Titles

Greg Louganis and Tristan Baker-Schultz won the men’s and women’s 3-meter springboard events in the Phillips 66/U.S. Outdoor Diving Championships Saturday at Heritage Park in Irvine. That much is sure.

What it meant to each, well, that’s a different matter.

To Baker-Schultz, American diving’s perennial bridesmaid, it proved that she can win, something she didn’t believe for a long time.

“It’s a wonderful feeling,� she said.

To Louganis, who has won 46 national titles, the brightest aspect of the victory was that he hadn’t performed well.

Of course, Louganis’ expectations are somewhat different than his peers’.

Louganis won with a score of 681.90; Mark Bradshaw was second at 669.18, and Kent Ferguson (628.95) was third.

After nine dives, Louganis led Bradshaw by 29 points and had not received a score of lower than 6.5 from any judge--he got two of those.

On a forward 3 1/2 somersault pike, he received one 10, and five scores of 9 or higher on a forward 3 1/2 somersault pike. He was, well, Louganis.

Still, his final two dives--a reverse 1 1/2 somersault with 3 1/2 twists, and a reverse 3 1/2 somersault--were mediocre by his standards. They were the same two dives that he faltered on in the 3-meter preliminaries that allowed Bradshaw to sneak in as the final’s No. 1 qualifier.

“Obviously, there are a couple dives I need to work on,� Louganis said.

Which, Louganis believes, is a good thing with the U.S. Olympic trials coming up in a couple weeks.

“I’d be a little concerned if everything was going great now,� he said. “This gives me something to work on, it makes it easier to train for the next couple of weeks. It gives you a reason to be there. It’d be pretty hard to try and coast for a couple weeks at a peak.�

Life is tough at the top.

That’s a region that Baker-Schultz has just become familiar with this year. From 1985 to 1987, she finished second or third in 3-meter competition in seven straight national meets. But Saturday’s victory was her second straight. She won the national indoor 3-meter title last April.

“I finally believe I can win,� she said. “That was missing for a long time.�

Baker-Schultz (512.19) was consistent as her main competition seemed to self destruct.

Megan Neyer had qualified first for the finals and had won the 1-meter title Friday. Neyer was in fifth after five dives, 17 points out of first, but she missed badly on a back 2 1/2 somersault pike and was never a factor after that.

Wendy Lucero was leading the competition until the seventh round. There she scored low (3s and 4s) on a reverse 2 1/2 somersault tuck. Baker-Schultz took the lead at that point, and never gave it up. Wendy Lian Williams (500.10) was second and Mary Fischbach (495.84) was third.

“I just want to dive consistently, I’m not concerned what anyone else is doing,� Baker-Schultz said. “I just try to keep my head together. The minute I get out of the water I put on the headphones and crank up the sound. I don’t watch the others.�

If she had, she would have seen Eileen Richetelli, all of 16, miss qualifying for the Olympic trials on her last dive.

Richetelli, competing in just her second senior meet, was in fifth with one dive to go. The top eight divers in national meets qualify for the Olympic trials. But she landed on her back on a reverse 1 1/2 somersault with 2 1/2 twists. The scores were so low (she received a couple .5s) that she dropped to 11th.

“She’s never missed it that bad or scored that low,� said Jim Pyrch, Richetelli’s coach.

Also missing was Krista Wilson, who was in fourth after eight dives. Wilson, on her ninth dive, missed on a reverse 2 1/2 somersault tuck and fell far down into the standings. She finished ninth, six points behind eighth-place finisher Wendy Wyland.