Livingston wins 1st national diving title on final dive; Bryant wins 5th women’s title

Livingston wins 1st national diving title

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Drew Livingston, the 2009 NCAA 1-meter diving champion, earned his first national title Sunday, winning the senior men’s platform at the U.S. Summer Diving Championships at the Morcom Aquatic Center.

Livingston entered the final round of competition nine-tenths of a point behind nine-time national champion Thomas Finchum. Both attempted the same dive in the last round, a back 2½ somersault with 2½ twists, and Livingston outscored Finchum by 15.2 points for the crown.

Livingston, a University of Texas diver, finished the finals with 509.55 points and said he knew early that his final dive was a good one.

“I felt it as I was taking off the platform,” Livingston said.

“Usually, if I’m not feeling it, I can tell in my take-off. But I felt it coming off the tower,” he said. “The biggest thing was that I didn’t have anything else to lose. I hadn’t won a national championship. I always like diving behind the person in the lead.”

Kelci Bryant, a 2008 Olympian, won the senior women’s 3-meter springboard championship with a score of 347.25. It is her fifth national title and her second in that event.

In the women’s synchronized 3-meter springboard, Kassidy Cook and Loren Figueroa won their first national title with a score 308.40, while Andrew Brown and Cole Young won their first national title in the men’s synchronized platform with a score of 354.15.