BARCELONA, Spain – Murphy Bromberg (Bexley, Ohio) and Cheyenne Cousineau (Temperance, Mich./Columbus, Ohio) placed seventh in the women’s synchronized 10-meter final at the FINA World Championships on Monday.
The pair scored 301.74 points in their first World Championships, with China’s Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia claiming the gold with 356.28 points. Canada’s Roseline Filion and Meaghan Benfeito scored 331.41 for silver, and Malaysia’s Pandelela Rinong and Mun Yee Leong were third at 331.14.
Bromberg and Cousineau advanced to the finals after finishing ninth in the morning prelims. They improved their score in the finals by 16.59 points.
“We were a little nervous in the preliminaries. Once we were in the finals, we knew we could enjoy ourselves. The pressure was off once we made finals,” Cousineau said. “Being on this stage was a great experience. You have to learn to not let the pressure get to you. It’s just another meet.”
Bromberg and Cousineau were in 10th place with 90.60 points after the two voluntary rounds in the finals. Three solid optional dives – including 75.24 points on a back 3 ½ tuck and 72 points on a back 2 ½ with 1 ½ twists in the last two rounds – pushed them up to seventh in the final standings.
“We definitely need to work on our voluntaries. (USA Diving High Performance Director) Steve Foley is always telling us how important they are, but you really don’t understand it until you see it yourself. They do make a difference,” Bromberg said. “This meet was a lot of fun. I sometimes have problems with nerves, but it wasn’t too bad this time. You have to learn how to deal with it, and it’s great to be here to get that experience.”
Tuesday’s competition at the World Championships features Troy Dumais (Ventura, Calif./Austin, Texas) andMichael Hixon (Amherst, Mass.) in the men’s synchronized 3-meter preliminaries, and Deidre Freeman(Grinnell, Iowa) in the women’s 1-meter finals. Should Dumais and Hixon advance, their final is also set for Tuesday.
