China makes early statement at Diving World Cup

LONDON (AP) — Described as "mythical" by one top diver and "breathtaking" by another, the Aquatics Center that will host four events at this summer's Olympics was given a big thumbs-up Monday when the iconic London venue opened its doors for competition for the first time.

Thousands of British fans poured into the sleek, wave-shaped venue to witness the latest test event for the games that doubled as a high-profile Diving World Cup meet, following a similar track cycling competition at the nearby velodrome over the weekend.

China dominated the opening day's action, with Qin Kai and Luo Yutong winning the men's synchronized 3-meter springboard with a score of 445.71 points and double Olympic champion Chen Ruolin topping the scoring in the preliminary round for the women's 10-meter platform. It was an expected show of strength by the Chinese, diving's major power.

But while the weeklong event provides a final opportunity for divers to secure qualification places for London, it also gives many of the world's top performers a precious early chance to sample the atmosphere of an Olympic venue.

The Aquatics Center will also stage swimming, synchronized swimming and modern pentathlon this summer.

"Pools have their own uniqueness, design and engineering to depict culture, history or innovation. This captured all of them," American diver Troy Dumais, a three-time Olympian, told The Associated Press. "These are phenomenal facilities. We don't often get to see things like this and sometimes it can be overwhelming and mythical, and it can throw you out of your routine."

Fortunately for Dumais and his United States partner Kristian Ipsen, it didn't. They finished sixth in the men's event to snatch the final quota place for their country at the Olympics. Malaysia, Ukraine and Canada also qualified a team for the games in that discipline.

"It's not the place we wanted but every competition you learn from. It's job done," Dumais said.

Australian diver Loudy Wiggins was just as taken aback by the 269-million-pound ($426-million) venue.

"I walked in and said, 'Wow, this is incredible.' It's quite spectacular, I'd even go as far as saying it's breathtaking," said Wiggins, who qualified for the final of the women's event. "It's got all the right references. They've pretty much thought of everything."

Some 220 divers from 40 countries are competing in the World Cup, which is expected to be monopolized by the Chinese.

They swept all 10 golds in an unprecedented exploit at last year's world championships and have dominated recent Olympics, making some of their divers household sporting names in the country.

Chen, who won both the 10-meter platform and synchronized 10-meter platform in the Beijing Games in 2008, finished a comfortable first in the women's event Monday, nearly 65 points clear of second-place Yulia Koltunova of Russia.

"The crowd are all very excited," Chen said. "They give you their good support whether your jump is good or bad."

Tom Daley is Britain's big hope in diving after winning gold in the individual 10-meter platform at the 2009 world championships at the age of 15, but even he has acknowledged that China is light-years ahead of the rest when it comes to medal chances.

Daley will compete with Peter Waterfield in the 10-meter synchro on Thursday, meaning British fans had to wait a few days to see one of the poster boys of the games.

In the meantime, the crowd had to settle for Nick Robinson-Baker and Christopher Mears, who finished in 10th place for the 3-meter synchro finals. Britain had already qualified for the Olympics by virtue of its host nation status.

"You hear the crowd clapping for the other teams, it's only a few claps, but when we come on it's like the gladiators are in," Robinson-Baker said.

A total of 3,000 tickets have been sold for each of the three sessions per day for the test event. The capacity will stretch to 17,500 once temporary wings are added to the purpose-built venue, whose spectacular wavelike roof and location in the "gateway" to the Olympic Park makes it the one of the most striking stadiums for the games.

"What a fantastic arena and to fit 17,500 people in it for the Olympics is going to be amazing," Robinson-Baker said.

The Russian pair of Evgeny Kuznetsov and Illya Zakharov finished runners-up behind China, with Malaysia taking the bronze.