Diving at Mission Viejo : Louganis, Back in Form, Springs to Routine Wins

Any time Greg Louganis falters, it’s news.

So there wasn’t very much news Sunday, as Louganis won both the three-meter springboard and the 10-meter platform events of the McDonald’s Cup III before a crowd of about 500 at the Marguerite Recreation Center in Mission Viejo.

All during the weekend-long meet, Louganis answered question after question about the meet last month in which he was beaten on the three-meter springboard for the first time since 1981. So did Mark Bradshaw, the diver who beat him.

But Sunday, Louganis--the 1984 Olympic double gold medalist--put any suspicions about his diving to rest. He won the springboard event, scoring 689.20 points and defeating his nearest competitor, Bradshaw, by 30 points.

On the platform, he scored 690.65, beating second-place Bruce Kimball, the 1984 Olympic silver medalist, by almost 60 points.

A slightly off reverse 1 1/2-somersault with 3 twists earned him only 7s and probably prevented him from hitting the 700-point mark.

Other than that dive, he earned counted scores of 9 or more on 7 of his 9 other dives, earning 89.10 points--all 9s--for his ninth dive, a back 2 1/2-somersault tuck that has a difficulty rating of 3.5--the highest possible.

J.D. McGregor, who continued training at Mission Viejo after Louganis and other world-class divers moved to Boca Raton, Fla., in 1985, finished third with 557.70 points.

The difference between Louganis’ meet this weekend and the one last month?

“I trained,” Louganis said. “The training always pays off. It always does. I knew that before the last meet.”

Kept busy by promotional appearances, Louganis trained seriously for only a week before last month’s meet. He has been working since.

“Things are falling into place,” he said.

Kelly McCormick, the 1984 Olympic springboard silver medalist and the daughter of two-time Olympic gold-medal winner Pat McCormick, won the women’s springboard competition, beating Megan Neyer by eight points.

McCormick, who like the other divers is preparing for the U.S. Indoor championships next month at Baton Rouge, La., scored 509.55 points, using four new dives and earning 8s for a total of 71.40 on a new 3 1/2-somersault tuck.

Michele Mitchell, the 1984 Olympic platform silver medalist, won the women’s platform event, defeating second-place Wendy Wyland, who won the bronze, by 35 points.

Mitchell came from third place at the halfway point, scoring 76.80 points of her 449.20 total on her seventh dive, an inward 3 1/2-somersault tuck.