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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Kristian Ipsen knew going into the final dive of the night that he was going to win a national title in the men's 3-meter synchronized springboard.
The only question was which partner he'd share that title with.
Ipsen's final dive with Troy Dumais wasn't enough to overcome Ipsen and Samuel Dorman's total score Tuesday at the USA Diving Winter Nationals, leaving the 2012 Olympic bronze medalists to finish second.
Ipsen and Dorman will be the duo heading to the 2016 FINA Diving World Cup in Rio de Janeiro in February, an Olympic qualifier.
Ipsen and Dorman finished with a cumulative score of 822.99; Ipsen and Dumais had 819.81, with their final round score of 74.46 leaving them short of a national title.
Dorman and Dumais were third with a score of 798.33.
Ipsen said injury more than anything else played havoc with him on his final dive.
"I felt like I got off a little bit towards the end more, because I actually broke my hand at the beginning of October, and I haven't been doing a lot of numbers with my training, I've just been doing a lot of dry-land training, so I haven't done this many optionals in a while, this many hard dives, so it felt like it started to get to me a little at the end," Ipsen said. "It was a little bit tougher to move the board and do some of the bigger dives."
It became clear fairly quickly in the finals that some combination of Ipsen, Dumais and Dorman would win the national title, as the three teams stayed atop the leaderboard through the finals' six rounds.
Dorman called the back-and-forth "a marathon."
"It really tests your diving, I think. You have to really be in tune with everyone . you really learn how to communicate a lot," he said.
Ipsen said it's mentally taxing but also super fun to compete in such a manner.
"It's always fun starting it off like that, because we're obviously really competitive people; we all want to win. And we're all good; it's fun competing with each other at this level," he said.
Tuesday's first night of competition also included the women's synchronized platform. Jessica Parratto and Amy Cozad won the title.
With only four teams in the field, Parratto and Cozad acknowledged the challenge between Tuesday night's action and what they'll face in Rio de Janeiro.
"That's some adversity we'll have to face," Cozad said.
"It is actually easier, it's a faster pace so it feels more like practice," Parratto said.
The women's awards ceremony was postponed to Wednesday night because the IUPUI campus was on lockdown after a nearby burglary.
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