In a day of wild oscillations on the Olympic 10-metre tower - where even favourites such as British wonder boy Tom Daley and American star David Boudia teetered on the edge of elimination - Victoria diver Riley McCormick played it safe and steady to qualify for the semifinals of the 2012 London Summer Games.
Eighteen of the 32 men's Olympic 10-metre divers moved on, with 2011 world championships silver-medallist Boudia barely scraping through in 18th spot and Daley a hugely disappointing 15th for the home nation. Even defending Beijing Olympic champion Matthew Mitcham of Australia was hardly pool-shattering in qualifying ninth.
The Chinese stars, however, did not waver in qualifying. Bo Qiu was first with 563.70 points and Yue Lin second with 532.15. The Canadian-champion McCormick qualified 11th for today's semifinals with 452.75 points. Eric Sehn of Edmonton placed 29th and did not advance.
The goal of the qualifying round is to survive by making it into the top-18.
The qualifying scores will be rubbed clean for the semifinals, with all 18 divers starting with zero.
McCormick is only 21 but the Islander is already in his second Olympics. He's been at this diving game since he was five at Saanich Commonwealth Place and has developed a maturity level that belies his relatively young age.
That held him in good stead Friday in London.
"I knew where I was in the standings and knew that I had to do a really good job to get in," said McCormick, who sealed his semifinal spot by scoring 8's across the board with his sixth and final dive.
"I'm just glad I played my own game and I'm consistent," he added.
"That's what I do. I didn't really miss anything big and didn't really hit anything until that last dive.
Glad I did, though."
McCormick was ninth at the last two world championships. But he could sneak up and surprise a few people in London.
"There was nothing super spectacular but I eliminated the big misses," the Claremont Secondarygraduate said.
"Going into that last dive, I was aware of my situation and I executed it the way I know I can. But I know I'll need to step it up in the semifinal if I want to make the final."
The semifinals were at 2 a.m. PDT today with the top-12 advancing to the Olympic final today at 12: 30 p.m. PDT.
SUPER IN THE SERPENTINE: Island swimmer Richard Weinberger's Olympic bronze medal Friday in the men's openwater 10K was also a kind of vindication for Weinberger's coach, the veteran Victoria mentor Ron Jacks.
The former Olympian and Island pool coach became a pioneer of coaching openwater swimmers long before the event entered the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing.
BRING IN THE CLOSERS: The London Olympics come into the final weekend with the last of the 48 Island athletes and McCormick isn't alone. Cam Levins, the running prodigy from tiny Black Creek, is in the 5,000-metre final today at 11: 30 a.m. PDT at Olympic Stadium. On closing day Sunday, three-time Olympian Geoff Kabush of Courtenay and Olympicrookie Max Plaxton of Victoria race in mountain biking at 5: 30 a.m. PDT.
ON TV
TODAY
4 a.m., CTV: Race walking, women's rhythmic gymnastics
4 a.m., TSN: Women's volleyball, men's wrestling
7 a.m., CTV: Men's soccer final: Brazil vs. Mexico
7 a.m., TSN: Taekwondo, women's volleyball gold-medal match, men's diving
7: 30 a.m., OLN: Men's field hockey: bronze-medal game
9 a.m., SNP: Women's basketball
9: 30 a.m., OLN: Women's race walking: 20-kilometre final
10: 30 a.m., CTV: Athletics, men's diving, men's boxing
Noon, OLN: Men's field hockey final: Germany vs. Netherlands
EARLY SUNDAY
1 a.m. , CTV: Men's volleyball, men's basketball.
3 a.m. , TSN: Men's marathon, men's mountain biking, men's water polo gold-medal match
