July 21, 2013
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BARCELONA — Former University of Iowa diver Deidre Freeman advanced to the finals in the women’s 1-meter springboard at the FINA World Championships, which are being held at at Piscina Municipal de Montjuic in Barcelona.
Freeman, a native of Grinnell, Iowa, advanced to Tuesday’s 1-meter final after scoring 263 points for fifth place in the preliminaries. She was in 12th after the second round, then turned in the second-best score in round three — 54.60 points on a forward 2 1/2 pike — to lift her to sixth in the standings. She followed with 52.80 points on an inward 1 1/2 pike in round four that moved her up to fifth, and she held onto that spot after the final round.
“I feel like I have a little more in me as far as my prelim goes,” said Freeman, a Hawkeye All-American in 2010. “I feel like I can do better, but I dove solid. I have a few things I can fix for the finals.”
For Freeman, this meet marked a return to a country where she studied for a semester in 2009. The University of Iowa graduate trained with the Spanish National Team in Madrid during her time studying abroad.
“It has been awesome to be back in Spain,” she said. “It’s really nice to see my coach (Manolo Gandarias) again. I feel like I just left here yesterday. This is only my second international meet and my first one out of North America, so it’s nice to know a few people here, and it’s nice I know the language.”