U.S. Plans a Back Flip

There was a time when the United States went to the Olympics expecting to capture plenty of gold, silver and bronze at the diving pool.

From Sammy Lee to Greg Louganis, from Pat McCormick to Jennifer Chandler, this was a sport that used to come with a medal guarantee for the Americans.

Not anymore.

The U.S. team has ceded its dominance to countries such as China, Russia and -- heck -- even Canada, the neighbor to the north where they like their water on ice.

Four years ago in Sydney, the Americans captured only one medal -- albeit gold, courtesy of a stunning win by Laura Wilkinson on the platform. From a sheer numbers standpoint, it was the worst showing for the red, white and blue since the 1912 Stockholm Games.

“The rest of the world is catching up to the Americans,” said Todd Smith, executive director of USA Diving. “It’s very, very competitive out there. I don’t think anybody is going to dominate like we did for the first 60 or 70 years.”

Historically, the Americans have ruled diving like no other Olympic sport. Since it became part of the program a century ago, the U.S. team has claimed 128 medals -- 49 percent of the available total. Swimming is next on the list at 34 percent.

At the last two Olympics, however, the flow of diving medals has slowed significantly.

A couple of bronzes in Atlanta.

Wilkinson’s gold at Sydney.

“We hear a lot about our legacy, what we’ve done in the past,” said Justin Wilcock, who will compete in the springboard at Athens. “That has started to slip away.”

At last year’s world aquatics championships in Barcelona, China and Russia dominated the eight Olympic disciplines.

The Chinese won three golds, three silvers and four bronzes, and Russia had two medals of each color. Canada won a pair of golds, while Australia, Germany, Ukraine and Mexico also claimed spots on the medal podium.

The United States? Shut out.

Still, the Americans are confident that things will be different in Greece. The 11-member team includes Wilkinson and three other holdovers from 2000: Sara (Reiling) Hildebrand, Troy Dumais and Mark Ruiz.

“This is perhaps the best team we’ve had in a long time,” Smith said. “We have a defending Olympic champ. We have some other veterans who should be able to handle the pressure.”

Outside of Wilkinson, Dumais is perhaps the best medal contender. He’ll take part in both springboard events for the second straight Olympics, teaming up with older brother Justin in the synchronized.

Four years ago, Troy was sixth in the individual 3-meter and just missed a medal in synchro when he and David Pichler finished fourth.

“It doesn’t matter what happened four years ago,” Dumais said. “I’m more prepared than I’ve ever been.”

Pairing up with Justin has brought the siblings closer together, though both concede there’s still plenty of bickering. It should make things interesting when they get to Athens.

“There are constant arguments,” Troy said. “That’s just life. We get mad at each other.”

“We’re certainly different,” Justin added. “Maybe this is complementing who we are.”

Wilkinson had hoped to compete in two events at Sydney, but she and synchro partner Kimiko Soldati were upset at the U.S. trials by Hildebrand and Cassandra Cardinell.

So, Wilkinson will settle for defending her gold medal on the platform. Her victory in Sydney was perhaps the biggest upset of the diving competition, made possible when four more-touted rivals botched dives in the final.

Wilkinson won’t sneak up on anybody this time. She won a test event in Athens in February, diving from the same platform where she’ll try to claim another Olympic gold. And she’s certainly in better shape physically, winning in 2000 despite breaking her right foot in three places shortly before the trials.

“No one has the lead over anybody else,” Wilkinson said. “It’s going to be an exciting competition. You better watch it.”

Soldati, who at age 30 was the oldest diver at the trials, still managed to make her first Olympic team in springboard. She has overcame six surgeries and provides another compelling story line: Her father was born in a World War II internment camp, where his parents were imprisoned because of their Japanese roots.

Five divers on the 11-member U.S. team -- Wilkinson, Soldati, the Dumais brothers and Wilcock -- train together with coach Kenny Armstrong at The Woodlands complex near Houston. The arrangement has helped bring the team together and spurred everyone to better performances.

“The training center is very valuable,” Wilcock said. “We’ve fallen behind a bit in diving. We’re working to catch up. The training center gives us the opportunity to train in an atmosphere where there’s not just one diver at a top level. (We’re) all pushing each other.”

But the United States still lacks the financial backing of countries such as China, where government support allows athletes to focus on their performances -- not putting meals on the table.

“It’s tough to compete,” the now-retired Louganis said, “when a lot of kids are worried about finding time to get to the pool because of their jobs.”

The Chinese team is led by Tian Liang, who won the men’s platform in Sydney and took a silver in synchro. All of his teammates are possible medal contenders, as well.

The Russians are still led by 30-year-old Dmitry Sautin, who is back for his fourth Olympics and trying to add to his total of six medals. He won four in Sydney, making the podium in all four men’s events there.

Another Russian star is Alexander Dobroskok, who won springboard at the 2003 world championships in Barcelona and teamed with Sautin to take gold in synchro.

Watch out for the Canadians, as well. They swept the individual platform golds in Spain -- Alexandre Despatie winning on the men’s side, while Emilie Heymans was the top woman.

Despite such formidable competition, the Americans haven’t given up on reclaiming at least some of their former glory.

“We’ve shown a lot of strength over the past year. We’re showing that the U.S. is back,” Hildebrand said. “We have the talent to medal. There’s no ifs or maybes about it. We will medal.”