Viola Named to USA World Championships Roster
Feb. 12, 2009
Indianapolis, Ind. – Brittany Viola, a diver at the University of Miami, has just been announced to the USA diving roster competing at the 2009 FINA World Championships in Rome. She recently competed in the World Selection Camp in Columbus, Ohio (Feb. 10-11) for her chance at being named to the World Championships Roster.
Viola, a 5-foot-5 junior from Orlando, Fla., performed a series of dives on Tuesday and Wednesday on the both the 1-meter springboard and 10-meter platform that allowed her the distinction of being named to the USA World Championship roster.
Viola scored two second place and one third place dive on the platform Wednesday morning, registering her highest performance on her second dive, collecting a score of 369.80. That was a second place finish. Her second-highest dive resulted in a second place finish as well with a score of 331.80.
Her Inward 3 ½ Somersault Tuck netted the score of 369.80, while the Back 2 ½ Somersault Pike confirmed her second Top 3 dive of the morning.
Over on the 1-meter springboard, Viola had her highest score of 285.40 and a first place mark for her final dive–a forward 2 ½ Somersault Pike. She would also have a third place score of 269.40 for her second dive of the day–a reverse 1 ½ somersault, 1 ½ twist free.
Viola is the defending Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in the 1-, 3- and 10-meter event, and defending National Champion for the Hurricanes on the 10-meter platform in 2008. She was just the fourth women’s national diving champion at Miami. She was also tabbed UM’s 74th All-America selection in school history for swimming & diving alongside UM teammate Reuben Ross.
Viola was also UM’s 22nd NCAA Champion all-time for her sport.
The team members were chosen following the four-day selection camp in Columbus, where USA Diving selectors chose individual competitors for the World Championships. Synchronized teams will be selected in May.
Six Olympians were among the divers chosen to compete at the World Championships, set for July 18-25 in Italy. Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif.) and Chris Colwill (Brandon, Fla.) will dive on men’s 3-meter, and Christina Loukas (Riverwoods, Ill.) and Ariel Rittenhouse (Santa Cruz, Calif.) were chosen on women’s 3-meter. Colwill and Loukas also were selected for the 1-meter event. Haley Ishimatsu (Seal Beach, Calif.) and David Boudia (Noblesville, Ind.) were chosen for 10-meter.
Joining Boudia on 10-meter is up-and-comer Nick McCrory (Chapel Hill, N.C.), a 17-year-old who won his first senior national title in 2008. Alongside Viola, Terry Horner (Longwood, Fla.) rounds out the team with a spot on 1-meter.
The World Championships team members will be required to demonstrate competitive readiness at the 2009 AT&T USA Diving Grand Prix in Fort Lauderdale May 7-9.
Synchronized teams for the World Championships will be chosen at a selection camp in Fort Lauderdale following the Grand Prix.
About USA Diving…
Featuring America’s best divers, USA Diving is the national governing body for the sport of diving. Headquartered in Indianapolis, USA Diving offers diversified programs geared toward the broadest number of diving enthusiasts, from the novice to the world champion. USA Diving conducts approximately 40 regional and national events annually and is responsible for training and selecting teams that represent the United States at international events such as the Olympic Games, World Championships and World Cup. For additional information please call Jennifer Lowery at (317) 237-5252 or visit www.usadiving.org.
