FINA introduced a new diving event in 2010, trying the team event out as an exhibition event at the 2010 Diving World Cup in Changzhou, China. The Diving World Cup was the perfect place to introduce and try out the new form, according to FINA officials, because the World Cup is the top annual international diving event.
The exhibition team event replaced the men's and women's 1-meter springboard event, which was contested in 2008. The inaugural team event was held Tuesday, June 1, 2010.
Rules of the New Team Diving Event at the World Cup
To participate in the new event, teams had to consist of two divers - one male and one female. Each diver had to complete three dives each for a total of six dives.
Of the six dives, three had to be done from the 10-meter platform board and three had to be done from the 3-meter springboard. Each diver had to do at least one dive from each board, so the male could not do all of the platform dives while the female did all of the springboard dives, for example.
In addition, each of the six categories of dives had to be represented. The six categories are reverse, inward, back, twist, armstand and forward.
Team Diving Event at the 2010 Diving World Cup
The team of David Boudia and Haley Ishimatsu of the United States defeated 11 other teams to win the gold medal June 1 at the exhibition team event when they finished with a score of 455.35. The gold medal won by Boudia and Ishmatsu is the first that the United States has won at a diving world cup since 1985.
To win the event, Boudia did two springboard dives and one platform dive, while Ishimatsu did the opposite: two platform dives and one springboard dive. Both Boudia and Ishimatsu were members of the 2008 Olympic diving team. The pair relied on their experience and consistence to win the event, they told Jennifer Lowery of USA Diving.
“It was a very interesting meet and a very interesting format, but it was different and fun, Ishimatsu told Lowery. “We dove consistently, and that ended up being really good for us.”
“I thought it went really well. We went into it excited, but we really weren’t sure what to expect,” Boudia added. “We just relied on our consistency, and it pulled through for us.”
Boudia and Ishimatsu faced tough competition in the teams from China and Russia, who won the silver and bronze medal, respectively. The Chinese team, made up of Luo Yutong and Wang Hao finished with a score of 442.60, while the Russian team, composed of Ilia Zakharov and Yulia Koltunova earned a total score of 442.90.
The 2010 World Cup is underway in China with events continuing until June 6, 2010. In addition to the team event, other events contested include men's and women's single and men's and women's synchronized events on both the 3-meter springboard and 10-meter platform. A total of 146 divers from 33 countries are scheduled to compete in the World Cup.
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Kristen Nichols - Kristen is a freelance reporter and copywriter covering Olympic and Paralympic sport for Suite101.com. Kristen's love of sport developed ...
