Dec. 18, 2009

Purdue sophomore diver David Boudia finished second off the platform Friday at the 361° China All-Star Diving Series in Wuhan, China.

“It is always amazing competing in China because the level of diving is as high as it gets,” Boudia said. “I want to thank the Chinese divers for giving us an opportunity to compete against them.”

Boudia, who finished fifth in the synchronized platform at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, made the most of his final dive to claim the runner-up finish. The Noblesville, Ind., native, who also contested the 3-meter Thursday, and Beijing gold medalist Matthew Mitcham from Australia were the only two foreign divers invited to participate in the platform event. Troy Dumais joined Boudia in the 3-meter event as the only other American to garner an invitation to the meet.

Boudia earned his spot on the podium by excelling in a slightly different format than is normally employed. The field of 11 divers began by taking six preliminary dives. The top eight divers then advanced to a series of single-elimination dives with the lowest score failing to advance each time. That continued until two divers were left. Those two were immediately advanced into the super final, and the six divers who had been eliminated, including Boudia, each were given one additional dive with the two highest scorers moving to the super final. In the super final, each of the four divers was allowed one dive to determine the finishing places.

Boudia has been no stranger to international podiums this year. Teaming with Beijing partner Thomas Finchum, Boudia earned a synchronized platform silver medal at the FINA World Championships in Rome this summer. The duo also won a bronze medal at the FINA Diving World Series in Mexico City earlier in the summer.

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