Cougars Dive Back into Action

PROVO -- After taking the last four weeks off from competition to train during the holiday break, the Cougar men's and women's diving teams will be back in action this week as they travel to Indiana University to participate in the inaugural Speedo American Cup, on Tuesday, Jan. 7.

The competition on Jan. 7 is to qualify those divers not already selected to participate in the formal competition on Jan. 10-12. Contestants were invited to participate in the meet based upon previous performances at meets already this year.

Qualified participants will compete in a head-to-head diving competition pairing two men and two women against each other in the 3-meter event. The platform will be the standard preliminary, quarterfinal and final cuts.

A maximum of 24 individual divers in 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform and eight synchronized teams will compete in the Speedo American Cup.

Participants

In attendance at the Speedo American Cup is expected to be the 2000 Olympic platform gold medalist Laura Wilkinson, as well as 2000 Olympians Troy Dumais, and Sara Hildebrand.

The Last Cougar Competition

For the Cougars, the last time they hit the water was Dec. 6 and 7 as the team played host for the BYU Diving Invitational.

Senior diver Aaron Russell swept both diving events, winning the 1-meter and 3-meter boards at the Invitational that saw divers from Colorado State, Utah, and UNLV come to compete in the two-day event.

Russell's performance earned him Mountain West Conference Diver of the Week honors for the second time this season. Russell has also posted the top performances in the MWC this year and is undefeated in competition this season.