U.S. OLYMPIC FESTIVAL: ORANGE COUNTY’S DAY : LOS ANGELES 1991 : NOTEBOOK

Tower of power: After the first five rounds of the platform diving competition Sunday, Brian Earley knew he wasn’t going to win. He was in ninth place and trailed leader and eventual winner Matt Scoggin by more than 61 points.

But when it was over, Earley sported a wide grin. The 19-year-old from Mission Viejo excelled on his optional dives and surged to a fourth-place finish at 515.34.

“That’s a real decent (score) for me,” Earley said. “I was really pretty consistent. I’ve been training a lot on the tower. We’ve been doing work on the tower every other day and it’s paying off.”

Earley, who made his first springboard final at this meet--he finished last in the three-meter event Saturday--said his success here has changed his expectations.

“I had been approaching next year like, ‘Well, there will always be ‘96,’ but now I’m thinking more seriously about the (Olympic) Trials next year,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of work ahead of me, but this has been a very encouraging meet.”