Brittany Viola Earns U.S. Its First Spot in Olympics
July 20, 2011
Shanghai, China – Two-time NCAA champion and former University of Miami female diver Brittany Viola finished 12th in the women’s platform semifinals Wednesday, July 20, earning the U.S. its first spot into next year’s Summer Olympic Games in London. She is competing in the FINA World Championships at Shanghai Oriental Sports Center in Shanghai, China.
Viola, a native of Orlando, finished with 294.25 points in the semifinals to earn the last qualifying spot into the finals. The top 12 finishers also earn Olympic spots for their countries. China’s Hu Yadan led the field with 403.65 points, followed by teammate Chen Roulin at 385.95 and Mexico’s Paola Espinosa at 366.65.
The 2008 and 2011 NCAA platform champion Viola sat 11th heading into the final round of dives, but just 4.15 points separated 10th from 13th with one dive remaining. Viola registered mostly 6.5s and 7s for a final dive score of 59.20 on her back 2 ½ with 1 ½ twists to close her list of dives.
“(Coach) Randy (Ableman) told me it was extremely close, and I had no control over it. I had given it everything I had, and it was God’s will at that point,” said Viola, who waited downstairs rather than poolside for the contest to finish. “I was going to be satisfied no matter what place I got because I was happy with my performance and I had so much fun out there, but when I came upstairs and I saw I was 12th, it was amazing. It’s a time to celebrate where I’m at with my diving.”
Viola edged out North Korea’s Kim Jin Ok by 1.35 points for the last qualifying spot to advance to her first World Championships final after finishing 18th in 2009. She had two foot surgeries following the 2009 Worlds – missing the entire 2009-10 collegiate season for the Hurricanes – and was not able to return to competition until January 2011.
In her first competition back for the Canes, she finished second on the 1-meter springboard in a tri-meet against FIU and Central Connecticut State, finishing with a score of 282.35. She finished the 2010-11 season competing in just three collegiate platform events, in addition to winning the USA Winter Championships in Iowa City, Iowa.
The diving events at the FINA World Championships run through July 24. Thursday’s competition includes Viola in the 10-meter final.
For more information and a complete schedule of events for the FINA World Championships, please visit Shanghai-fina2011.com.
For more information on the University of Miami swimming & diving team, please log on to HurricaneSports.com. Once there, you will find up-to-date news, stats and information regarding the Hurricanes swimming & diving program.
Fans can keep up-to-date with all UM Athletics via twitter at Twitter.com/HurricaneSports. You can also become a fan of the Hurricanes on Facebook at Facebook.com/MiamiHurricanes.
