Routson Easily Wins Platform Competition

Tyce Routson of the Mission Viejo Nadadores knew from the start Monday that he might be in for a good day of diving.

And after the last splash, Routson had handily won the senior men’s platform competition at the Southern California Diving Invitational at the Marguerite Swimming and Diving Complex. Routson finished more than 40 points ahead of second-place Jeff Bacon of the Vancouver Aquatic Centre.

“I actually did better than I expected,” Routson said, who finished with 538.40 points. “I’m pretty happy about my performance. I was able to remain consistent in my dives. And that’s one thing I have not been the last few times I’ve competed.”

Routson, 18, an El Toro graduate who will be diving for the University of Miami in the fall, was particularly happy about some of his more difficult moves, including the back 3 1/2 twister and a 2 1/2 gainer.

“I feel pretty good now,” Routson said. “And I hope to remain this consistent when U.S. trials start next week.”

The U.S. team that compete at the World Championships in September in Rome will be selected at the trials. The top two finishers in each event make the team. Instead of 10 dives as in most competitions, divers are allowed only two dives in each event, the one-meter, three-meter and platform.

Routson, who set a Southern Section Division I record winning the title, said he’s best on the platform and thinks he might have a chance of winning a spot on the U.S. team.

In the women’s senior platform competition, the Nadadores’ Sandy Zubrin couldn’t catch 1992 Olympian Paige Gordon, who beat Zubrin, 17, by eight points. Gordon, 21, of the Vancouver Aquatic Centre, finished with 377.55 points. Eileen Richetelli of Stanford was third with 368.30.

Although Zubrin did not win the senior platform title, she did win the 16-18 competition, scoring 371.60 points. Sarah Fields of Emerald Diving was second (302.30) and the Nadadores’ Kenesha Jespersen was third (295).

The Nadadores’ Summer Brown, who does not compete on the platform, won the senior one-meter competition with 414 points. Kelley Persinger of Pacific Northwest Divers was second (382.05) and Zubrin third (368.60).

Two 12-year-old Nadadores divers, Erica Sorgi and Kristen Marquis, performed well in the women’s senior platform competition, with Sorgi taking seventh and Marquis placing 10th.