China makes early statement at Diving World Cup

[February 21, 2012]  LONDON (AP) -- Described as "mythical" by one top diver and "breathtaking" by another, the Aquatics Center that will host four events at this summer's Olympics was given a big thumbs-up Monday when the London venue opened its doors for competition for the first time.

Thousands of British fans poured into the sleek, wave-shaped venue to witness the latest test event for the games that doubled as a high-profile Diving World Cup meet, following a similar track cycling competition at the nearby velodrome over the weekend.

China dominated the opening day's action, with Qin Kai and Luo Yutong winning the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard with a score of 445.71 points and double Olympic champion Chen Ruolin topping the scoring in the preliminary round for the women's 10-meter platform.

It was an expected show of strength by the Chinese, diving's major power. Russians Evgeny Kuznetsov and Illya Zakharov finished runners-up, with Malaysia taking the bronze.

While the weeklong event provides a final opportunity for divers to secure qualify for London, it also gives many top performers an early chance to sample the atmosphere of an Olympic venue. The Aquatics Center will also host swimming, synchronized swimming and modern pentathlon this summer.

"Pools have their own uniqueness, design and engineering to depict culture, history or innovation. This captured all of them," said American diver Troy Dumais, a three-time Olympian. "These are phenomenal facilities. We don't often get to see things like this and sometimes it can be overwhelming and mythical, and it can throw you out of your routine."

Fortunately for Dumais and his U.S. partner Kristian Ipsen, it didn't. They finished sixth in the men's event to snatch the final quota place for their country at the Olympics. Malaysia, Ukraine and Canada also qualified a team for the games in that discipline.

"It's not the place we wanted but every competition you learn from. It's job done," Dumais said.

Australian diver Loudy Wiggins was just as taken aback.

"I walked in and said, 'Wow, this is incredible.' It's quite spectacular, I'd even go as far as saying it's breathtaking," said Wiggins, who qualified for the final of the women's event. "It's got all the right references. They've pretty much thought of everything."

Some 220 divers from 40 countries are competing in the World Cup, which is expected to be monopolized by the Chinese.

They swept all 10 golds in an unprecedented exploit at last year's world championships and have dominated recent Olympics, making some of their divers household sporting names in the country.

One of them, double Olympic champion Chen Ruolin, finished a comfortable first in the women's 10-meter platform Monday, nearly 65 points clear of second-place Yulia Koltunova of Russia.

"The crowd are all very excited," said Chen, who won both the 10-meter platform and synchronized 10-meter platform in Beijing. "They give you their good support whether your jump is good or bad."

Tom Daley is Britain's big hope in diving after winning gold in the individual 10-meter platform at the 2009 world championships at the age of 15, but even he has acknowledged that China is light-years ahead of the rest when it comes to medal chances.

Not everyone is so overawed.

"They are human, they will make mistakes," Dumais said. "They are phenomenal athletes but it's mind games."

Daley will compete with Peter Waterfield in the 10-meter synchro Thursday, meaning British fans will have to wait a few days to see one of the poster boys of the games.

In the meantime, the crowd had to settle for Nick Robinson-Baker and Christopher Mears, who qualified for the 3-meter synchro finals.

"You hear the crowd clapping for the other teams, it's only a few claps, but when we come on it's like the gladiators are in," Robinson-Baker said.

A total of 3,000 tickets have been sold for each of the three sessions per day for the test event. The capacity will stretch to 17,500 once temporary wings are added to the venue, whose spectacular wavelike roof and location in the gateway to the Olympic Park makes it the one of the most striking stadiums for the games.

"What a fantastic arena and to fit 17,500 people in it for the Olympics is going to be amazing," Robinson-Baker said.

[Associated Press; By STEVE DOUGLAS]

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