Polyakova Heads to World Championships
July 13, 2017 | Swimming & Diving
LOS ANGELES -- Having already completed a busy spring at home and abroad, UCLA divers will continue to represent their home countries and the Bruins as their summer progresses and they near their 2017-18 campaign. First up is a trip to the FINA World Championships for reigning Pac-12 Diver of the year and rising senior Maria Polyakova. Competition in Budapest, Hungary will begin Friday at 7:00 a.m., PT.
All action can be seen on FINAtv, where available.
The Penza, Russia native's World Championships trip starts with the 1-meter semifinal. A top-12 finish would advance Polyakova to Saturday's final, also scheduled to kick off at 7:00 a.m, PT. The 3-meter preliminary round, meanwhile, will take place Thursday, July 20 at 1:00 a.m. The top-18 qualifiers will advance to the semifinal later that day (6:30 a.m.), before the field is trimmed to 12 for the July 21 final (9:30 a.m.). Polyakova will conclude her time in Budapest with an appearance in the mixed synchronized 3-meter final on Saturday, July 22 at 5:00 a.m.
Polyakova earned her automatic bid in May, when she posted a second-place finish in the 1-meterโby just 1.95 pointsโat the Russian National Championships/World Championships trials. A sixth-place finish in the 3-meter and a third-place one in the mixed synchronized 3-meter (with partner Ilia Molchanov) put Polyakova's status in limbo for the World Championships, though. Ultimately, she was offered spots in both events and will have three opportunities to compete for gold in Budapest.
Polyakova will also represent Russia at the World University Games in Taipei, Taiwan (August 20-27). There, the Pac-12's 2016 1-Meter and 2017 3-Meter Champion will compete in each of those disciplinesโas will incoming freshman Ruby Neave.
Neave, a Melbourne, Australia native, had a busy Australian Open Championships/World Championships trials in May. She shined brightest in the 1-meter, where she moved into third place with a strong final-round performance to earn her invite to the World University Games. Neave also garnered a third-place finish in the women's synchronized 3-meter (with partner AnnaRose Keating) and finished a clean sweep of final-round appearances after advancing in the 1-meter.
While rising junior Éloïse Bélanger did not qualify for the World Championships or World University Games, the trip to the Canadian National Diving Championships still led to a first for the decorated Montreal, Quebec native. She finished sixth in the 1-meter after taking first in the preliminary round and notching the highest-scoring dive of the competition at 61.10. Then, after starting slow in the 3-meter, Bélanger placed thirdโjust 2.30 points from a silver medal. Her performance resulted in a selection to the Bolzano Grand Prix in Italy, where she posted a silver-medal-worthy score of 273.05. The finish marked Bélanger's first medal at a senior-level international competition.
Stateside, four current and future Bruin divers took to the boards in June at the USA Diving Senior Zone F Championships at the Rose Bowl Aquatics Center in Pasadena, Calif. Incoming freshman Alice Yanovsky (Santa Clarita, Calif.) hit the ground running alongside her future teammates, securing 1-meter and 3-meter spots at the USA Diving National Championships in Columbus, Ohio. Rising senior Ciara Monahan will join her after a strong showing of her own. Monahan led the pack following the preliminary round of each event.
Rising juniors Madeline Russell and Traci Shiver rounded out the group at the Zone F meet. Shiver was the lone Bruin in the platform event, where she posted a personal-best score of 250.95 to advance to her first senior national championship event. Russell, meanwhile, posted personal-best scores in the 1-meter (210.30) and 3-meter (201.25) events.
17th FINA World Championships (Budapest, Hungary)
1-Meter Semifinal (Polyakova) โ Fri., July 14 (7:00 a.m., PT)
1-Meter Final โ Sat., July 15 (7:00 a.m., PT)
3-Meter Preliminary (Polyakova) โ Thu., July 20 (1:00 a.m., PT)
3-Meter Semifinal (Top 18) โ Thu., July 20 (6:30 a.m., PT)
3-Meter Final (Top 12) โ Fri., July 21 (9:30 a.m., PT)ย
Mixed Synchronized 3-Meter Final โ Sat., July 22 (5:00 a.m., PT)
2017 USA Diving National Championships (Columbus, Ohio)
1-Meter Semifinal (Monahan, Yanovsky) โ Tue., Aug. 8 (9:00 a.m., PT)
1-Meter Final (Top 8) โ Tue., Aug. 8 (1:55 p.m., PT)
Platform Preliminary (Shiver) โ Wed., Aug. 9 (6:00 a.m., PT)
Platform Semifinal (Top 18) โ Wed., Aug. 9 (11:15 a.m., PT)
3-Meter Preliminary (Monahan, Yanovsky) โ Thu., Aug. 10 (6:00 a.m., PT)
3-Meter Semifinal โ Thu., Aug. 10 (9:40 a.m., PT)
Platform Final (Top 12) โ Fri, Aug. 11 (4:05 p.m., PT)
3-Meter Final (Top 12) โ Sat. Aug. 12 (8:06 a.m., PT)
29th Summer Universiade: World University Games (Taipei, Taiwan)
1-Meter Preliminary (Neave, Polyakova) โ Sat., Aug. 19 (7:00 p.m., PT)
1-Meter Semifinal A (Places 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11) โ Sat., Aug. 19 (10:00 p.m., PT)
1-Meter Semifinal B (Places 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12) โ Sat., Aug. 19 (10:30 p.m., PT)
1-Meter Final (Top 3 from Final A, Final B) โ Sat., Aug. 19 (11:30 p.m., PT)
3-Meter Preliminary (Neave, Polyakova) โ Thu, Aug. 24 (7:00 p.m., PT)
3-Meter Semifinal (Top 18) โ Thu., Aug. 24 (10:00 p.m., PT)
3-Meter Final (Top 12) โ Sat., Aug. 26 (1:00 a.m., PT)
Players Mentioned
