MINNEAPOLIS – Purdue alumni David Boudia and Steele Johnson ripped their final dive to rally for a national title in their new event, synchronized 3-meter, on the opening day of the USA Diving Winter National Championships.
Boudia & Johnson clinched the U.S. bid in 3-meter synchro for the FINA Diving World Cup in April 2020 in Tokyo. At that meet they can earn the USA an Olympic berth in synchronized 3-meter. The U.S. Olympic Team Trials (June 14-21 in Indianapolis) will determine which divers qualify for the Olympics in all events.
Fellow Boilermaker Greg Duncan also earned a place on the podium Tuesday, winning bronze with Grayson Campbell of Texas. It marked the second time they have medaled in the event at the Winter Nationals. Purdue alumni Joe Cifelli and Max Showalter teamed up for the first time in 3-meter synchro and finished sixth.
Boudia won his 22nd career USA Diving national title. For Johnson, it was his 14th career senior national title. They both claimed their 12th career medals at the USA Diving Winter Nationals. Boudia & Johnson won silver together in 10-meter synchro at the 2016 Olympic Games, but Tuesday marked the first time they competed together in 3-meter synchro.
Boudia & Johnson were victorious with a two-list score of 815.22. And they saved their best dive of the day for last, registering a big score of 87.15 on the final overall dive of the competition to win by 3.51 points over Andrew Capobianco and Michael Hixon (811.71). It was easily their highest score of the day.
"I'm not going to lie. It was intense. It was a high stress event," Johnson said. "The top three teams were all battling for that World Cup spot, and we were right in the mix of it. We had a pretty big miss in the fourth round that we had to come back from. Luckily we kept our heads on our shoulders. David's a huge competitor, and I'm a competitor. We've been through this before, and we know how to keep calm and execute when we need to.
"I knew that we had a chance. I didn't know exactly what we needed to qualify but I knew that Michael and Andrew had missed a little bit. We just needed a really good dive to finish off. I wasn't focused on crushing the dive. It ended up being exactly what I needed alongside Dave."
Boudia & Johnson overcame 7.26-point deficit entering the sixth and final round. They were down by 9.3 points with two rounds remaining. They had the top-scoring dives of rounds 4, 5 and 6 of the final and also had the top-scoring dive in three rounds in the prelim. With the scores carrying over the prelim to final, Boudia & Johnson's 12.54-point lead on Capobianco & Hixon entering the final was also a big reason they were victorious. Boudia & Johnson improved on their prelim score by 14.04 points in the final. Capobianco & Hixon represented the U.S. in 3-meter synchro at the FINA World Championships in July.
Duncan & Campbell (780.27) were in second place after the prelim thanks to a list score of 397.08. They had the lead through round 2 of the final, but could not duplicate the strong finish they enjoyed with their prelim list.
Boudia & Johnson won their first synchro medals at Winter Nationals since claiming gold together on 10-meter at the 2015 edition. Boudia also won gold in 3-meter synchro (with Sam Dorman) at the Winter Nationals in 2013.
Cifelli, Duncan and Johnson are all scheduled to compete again this week at the USA Diving Winter Nationals.
PURDUE'S 3-METER SYNCHRO RESULTS
David Boudia & Steele Johnson, 815.22 (400.59 Prelim, 414.63 Final) – Event Winner
Greg Duncan with Grayson Campbell (Texas), 780.27 (397.08 Prelim, 383.19 Final) – Finished 3rd
Joe Cifelli & Max Showalter, 664.14 (324.45 Prelim, 339.69 Final) – Finished 6th
PURDUE'S REMAINING DAILY SCHEDULE AT WINTER NATIONALS
Wednesday, Dec. 18 – Prelim at 11 a.m. ET, Final at 5 p.m. ET
Men's 10-Meter Synchro – Steele Johnson & Brandon Loschiavo; Brandon Loschiavo (with David Dinsmore)
Thursday, Dec. 19
Men's 3-Meter Prelim at 11 a.m. ET – Joe Cifelli, Greg Duncan
Women's 10-Meter Prelim at 1:45 p.m. ET – Maggie Merriman
Men's 3-Meter Semifinal at 5 p.m. ET – Joe Cifelli, Greg Duncan
Women's 10-Meter Semifinal at 6:30 p.m. ET – Maggie Merriman
Friday, Dec. 20
Women's 3-Meter Prelim at 11 a.m. ET – Emily Bretscher
Men's 10-Meter Prelim at 1:30 p.m. ET – Ben Bramley, Steele Johnson, Brandon Loschiavo
Women's 3-Meter Semifinal at 5 p.m. ET – Emily Bretscher
Men's 10-Meter Semifinal at 6:45 p.m. ET – Ben Bramley, Steele Johnson
Saturday, Dec. 21
Men's 3-Meter Final at 11 a.m. ET – Greg Duncan
Women's 10-Meter Final at 12:20 p.m. ET – Top 12 in Semifinal Qualify
Sunday, Dec. 22
Women's 3-Meter Final at 11 a.m. ET – Top 12 in Semifinal Qualify
Men's 10-Meter Final at 12:20 p.m. ET – Ben Bramley, Steele Johnson