Aug. 20, 2008
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BEIJING, CHINA – Former University of Iowa diver Nancilea Foster placed eighth in the women’s three-meter springboard diving event at the Olympic Games. Foster, a native of Conroe, TX, scored 316.7 points. Her USA teammate Christina Loukas (Riverwoods, Ill.) finished ninth with 315.7.
China’s Guo Jingjing scored 415.35 points to successfully defend her Olympic gold. Athens bronze medalist Julia Pakhalina of Russia won the silver with 398.6 points. Wu Minxia of China scored 389.85 points for bronze.
Loukas and Foster were in fifth and seventh place after three rounds but missed on their fourth round dives to slip to ninth and 11 th. Both rebounded and came up with their highest scoring dives of the night in the final round to finish strong.
Foster is the only five-time all-American in Iowa women’s swimming and diving history. She set the school and Fieldhouse Pool three-meter records, and the school one-meter championship record. She was also a 2006 district academic all-America second team honoree and a three-time academic all-Big Ten selection.
Hawkeye Head Diving Coach Bob Rydze is serving as the U.S. Diving Team Leader for the Olympic Games. Underwood-Foster, who competed at the University of Iowa as Nancilea Underwood, is Rydze’s fourth diver to make an Olympic team. He also coached former Hawkeyes and Olympians Ricardo Camacho (1976, 1980, 1984), Randy Abelman (1980), and Tomasz Rossa (1988). This is Rydze’s second stint as the U.S. Diving team leader. He also coached the squad at the 1988 games in Seoul, South Korea.