Zach Cooper (Trafalgar, Ind.) and Tanner Wilfong (Hershey, Pa./Coral Gables, Fla.) finished third in men’s synchronized 10-meter to lead Team USA with a bronze medal Saturday at the FINA Malaysia Grand Prix meet in Kuala Lumpur.
Also on Saturday, Sam Dorman (Tempe, Ariz./Coral Gables, Fla.) and Dwight Dumais (Ventura, Calif./Austin, Texas) placed fourth in men’s synchronized 3-meter, while Maren Taylor (Arlington, Va./Austin, Texas) was the top finisher for the U.S. women after placing sixth in the individual 3-meter event.
Cooper and Wilfong, competing in their first international meet together, scored 348.57 points in the synchronized 10-meter contest to finish third behind China’s Zhang Yangquan and Chen Aisen (448.89) and Malaysia’s Ooi Tze Liang and Chew Yi Wei (386.55). The Americans scored between 63.36 and 68.31 points on all four of their optional dives, with their best score coming on their back 3 ½ tuck in round five.
Dorman and Dumais finished with 377.52 points in their first 3-meter synchro event together. They scored more than 80 points on both their front 2 ½ with 2 twists and reverse 1 ½ with 3 ½ twists, but a miss for just 49.35 points on their reverse 3 ½ tuck in round five kept them out of the medal hunt. China’s Li Shixin and He Chao won gold with 441.54 points, while Malaysia’s Tze Liang and Ahmad Amsyar Azman were second at 414.45. Colombia’s Sebastian Villa and Sebastian Morales took the bronze with 399.87.
Taylor scored 276.70 points to finish sixth in the women’s 3-meter final, which was won by China’s Wang Han with 362.50 points. Liu Huixia, also of China, scored 351.60 points for silver, and Malaysia’s Cheong Jun Hoong won bronze with 339.00 points. Laura Ryan (Elk River, Minn./Athens, Ga.) also competed for the U.S. but did not advance to the finals. She finished seventh overall after placing fourth with 259.10 points in her semifinal.
The Malaysia Grand Prix concludes Sunday with men’s individual 10-meter as well as both women’s synchronized events.
Diving News courtesy of USA Diving.
