Divers Return from National Championships

PROVO -- BYU divers, junior Brandon Watson and sophomore Dayna Christensen returned from Texas this weekend after competing in the AT&T Diving National Championships.

After winning the national championship in the men’s 1-meter with a total score of 398.85, Watson continued to excel in the men’s 3-meter competition. He placed sixth in the prelims with a score of 368.55 before going on to take third in the finals with a total score of 459.20.

“I did better that I thought I would,” said Watson. “I just went into it trying to expose myself to USA diving. I feel really blessed to have won first in the 1-meter and third in the 3-meter, especially because I was competing against two Olympians in the 3-meter.”

Having this kind of major success in the summer gives Watson high hopes for the upcoming season.

“My biggest goal for this year is to win the NCAA Championship,” he said. “That would be awesome.”

“We’re really proud of Brandon,” said BYU diving coach Keith Russell. “He was consistent and that made him successful. Both of our divers represented the team very well.”

Christensen competed in the women’s 3-meter and placed 26th in the prelims with a score of 229.15.

The BYU swim team will begin practicing in early September to prepare for their first meet on Oct. 7th. This meet will be a competition between the freshmen and sophomores of BYU and Utah. It will be held at 6 p.m. in the Richards Building.

For more information on results of the National Diving Champs visit www.usadiving.org.