Photo Courtesy: Matthew S. DeMaria
PHOENIX – The USA Diving nationals featured a lot of the country’s biggest talent as they begin to look ahead to next year’s world championships and the 2016 Olympics. One of the most famous names in American diving hit a milestone in the meet, winning his 38th national title. Troy Dumais has been at the top of the sport for more than a decade, winning his first senior national title in 1995, before many of his competitors were born. Since then, he’s competed in three Olympic Games and won the bronze medal with Kristian Ipsen on the synchro 3-meter in London.
YouTube Measures Views Only For Episodes Watched On YouTube
Subscribe to our YouTube channel, SwimmingWorldSPI
On Saturday, Dumais won the individual 3-meter event by just 13 points over Darian Schmidt. The competition got close when Dumais flubbed his front 4-1/2 somersault in the tuck position, while Schmidt pretty much nailed his. That gave Dumais only a five-point lead going into the final round. By outscoring Schmidt by nine points in the final round Dumais scored 1,348.30 points to Schmidt’s 1,335.25.
Dumais hadn’t done the 4-1/2 in competition before, and said afterward it will be a necessity if he wants to be competitive in Rio, where he’ll be 36 years old. By then, Dumais might have a 40th national title, which would put him closer to the great Greg Louganis, who leads with 47 titles. Remember that Louganis was superb on all three diving heights, while Dumais focuses just on 3-meter. Put that into account, and Dumais’ accomplishment on Saturday becomes more remarkable.
So, congratulations to Troy Dumais. You’ve won the Speedo Performance of the Week.