DIVING / NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS : Bradshaw Wins Big Over Lenzi

Fueled by the rage within him, Mark Bradshaw transformed a precarious two-point lead into an overwhelming triumph Saturday in the three-meter springboard finals of the Phillips 66 national diving championships at USC.

On a 2 1/2 somersault with two twists, Bradshaw’s sky high takeoff, tight somersaults and quick spins enabled him to straighten out for a clean forward entry, earning scores of 9s and 8 1/2s and a cumulative total of 648.06 points, 22 more than runner-up Mark Lenzi.

“I was so mad, I was bound and determined to do that last dive well,” Bradshaw said.

His anger stemmed from missing the entry on his 10th dive, a 3 1/2 somersault in the pike position. Bradshaw usually scores 8s on the dive, but he came out of his somersault too fast and could not hold a vertical line on his entry. The judges responded with scores of 5 1/2 and 6.

“I had a hard time seeing the surface of the water on that dive,” Bradshaw said.

Throughout the event, the 31-year-old five-time national champion had difficulty coming out of somersaults and spins and seeing the surface water. His coach, Vince Panzano of Ohio State, tried to create a contrast by spraying water into the pool with a hose.

Bradshaw’s last dive required such quick movements that he never saw the water and the straight line he needed for a perfect entry, but he made one any way.

“I got lucky,” Bradshaw said. “Instead of fooling around with trying to see it, I came out of the twist and lined it up where I thought the surface was. That was the glory of it--you don’t have time to think. I had no choice, either line it up or go in with a big bomb (splash).”

Lenzi needed an incredible final dive--103 points--to overtake Bradshaw, but Bradshaw said it was possible.

“It’s not over for crying out loud until the last dive,” he said. “Lenzi’s gotten 102 points on a last dive before.”

Lenzi, the 1992 Summer Olympic gold medalist, scored 80 points on his last dive. Through seven rounds he led Bradshaw by 16 points. But his feet flopped prominently into the water at the end of his eighth dive, a reverse 2 1/2 somersault in pike position, which scored 4 1/2s and 4s.

“It felt a little slow,” Lenzi said. “Usually, I spin a little faster. I pulled my legs up and they went over. That’s part of not working out enough.”

Olympic bronze medalist Mary Ellen Clark rebounded from a nasty splash on her sixth dive to win the women’s platform by 28 points over Stanford’s Eileen Richetelli.

Clark’s reverse 2 1/2 somersault in tuck position drew 3 1/2s, dropping her from the lead to third.

“That was a bummer,” Clark said. “I call that a whoops.”

Clark dismissed the disastrous dive and regained the lead, taking a slight, seven-point margin into the last dive.

In the past, Clark had a tendency to hold back in pressure situations, but this time she took an aggressive approach from the start, throwing herself above the platform and whipping through a back 1 1/2 somersault with 2 1/2 twists. Her scores included a 9 1/2 and a 9 and totaled a meet-high 73 points.

“I thought, ‘Whatever happens, I am going for this dive,’ ” Clark said. “You can only do a great dive with a great takeoff. You can’t have a wimpy takeoff and do a great dive.”

Diving Notes

Scott Donie, the third-place finisher on the men’s three-meter springboard, considered scratching the event. Donie, 24, of Houston, is suffering from depression so severe that he quit in the middle of a handstand during the platform competition at the U.S. Olympic Festival two weeks ago in San Antonio.

“I’m glad I was able to hang in there and do it,” said Donie with a sigh of relief. “I just tried to keep my mind blank.” . . . Ricky Wood, 20, of Rose Bowl Aquatics, won the artistic award for the best required dives. . . . The women’s three-meter finals begin today at 1 p.m., followed by the men’s platform finals.