2008 CHINA OPEN
I just got back from the World Cup Selection Camp in Columbus Ohio and had a great week there. There was some amazing diving from everyone. The competition was great and I came away with a new personal best! I scored 510 on my fourth list of dives and even scored my fist 10's on the 3meter springboard! It felt good to dive to my full potential. I had struggled all week with my inward 3 1/2 and finally hit it on my last list. I didn't qualify for the World Cup, but did get named to the China Open event in Shenzhen China. I am really excited to go to China for the first time and compete against the best in the world in their home country!
Justin Wilcock
I just returned from the China Open last night. I was hoping to update my website from the meet, but couldn't access it from China (I guess my site doesn't pass the Government's censorship qualifications!). So I will do a summary instead.
The competition was great! China had their best divers there as well as some of the other top divers in the world including Aleksandr Dobroskok (Russia), Matthew Mitcham (Australia) and Yahel Castillo(Mexico) to name a few.
I did well through the preliminary and semi-final rounds qualifying for finals in 5th place. Unfortunately finals didn't end up so strong. I hit a few of my dives, but had a few that were not so great. I finished in 6th place overall. I was really happy with the event though, even though finals didn't turn out how I would have liked it to. The team did great also. Everyone competed well and we really had a great time. Thanks to the coaches Kenny Armstrong, Todd Sherritt and Phil Tonne (who coached me during the meet) for all their help!
As for China itself, the place is great. They treated us so well, and we had such a great time seeing the city and learning about their culture. They had great interpreters for us who totally helped us out. The food was good (although I was ready for some good American food by the end of it!) and the hotel really tried to make it comfortable for us by serving chicken nuggets and french fries.
The city of Shenzhen was incredible. It has about 4 million people and is only about 30 years old. There was a market right across from our hotel where we spent most of our free time. You could find anything you wanted there from any brand of shoe (Converse, Nike, Diesel) to ipods and all for under $30. I don't know how well they would work, but it was fun to see it all! I have some pictures that my wife took so I will post them in the photo gallery section of the site.
2 Comments
Reader Comments (2)
Justin,
Congrats on your breaking your personal best at the selection camp!! Thanks for dropping us a line! Sorry to hear about the World Cup but I'll keep you in my prayers with the China Open. When one door closes, another one opens. Just walk thru it with faith that the best is yet to come because God wants you to have the best! Jeff
Justin!
Hey this is Bryce Barrand from BYU. I've been looking around for some update on your quest for olympic glory, and I haven't found anything until today. I'm happy to hear that you are diving well and getting 10's, thats awesome. (I only got 10's in high school, but I don't think those count :)
Anyways, shoot me an email when you get a chance.
--Bryce
ps. Do you have any videos of you diving on youtube or whatever?