Viola Finishes 10th on Platform at World Championships
July 21, 2011
Shanghai, China – Former University of Miami diver and Team USA participant Brittany Viola finished 10th in the finals of the 10-meter platform Thursday morning at the FINA World Championships inside the Shanghai Oriental Sports Center.
A day after earning the U.S. its first spot in the 2012 London Olympic Games, two-time NCAA platform champion Viola competed in the finals of the 10-meter event of the FINA World Championships.
Viola scored 308.05 points in her first World Championships final. She missed her first dive and was in 12th place after the first round but bounced back with four solid dives, highlighted by a 72-point effort on her last dive, a back 2 ½ with 1 ½ twists.
“It was extremely exciting to get in the finals because that’s an Olympic spot for my country,” Viola said. “As for my performance, I know there are many improvements I can make but it’s encouraging that I can go home and focus on some things. I’m learning more and more about myself as I compete.”
For UMiami, Viola’s qualification into next summer’s Olympic Games allows the Hurricanes a diving representative in every Summer Olympic Games since 1976 – with the exception of the United States boycott of the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, U.S.S.R.
China won its seventh gold of the championships when Chen Roulin took first with 405.30 points.
The diving events at the FINA World Championships run through July 24.
For more information and a complete schedule of events for the FINA World Championships, please visit Shanghai-fina2011.com.
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