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Four Tiger Divers to Compete in FINA Diving World Cup

by Tanner Craft | Communications Student Assistant
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Four Tiger Divers to Compete in FINA Diving World Cup

BATON ROUGE – LSU’s Juan Celaya-Hernandez, Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant, Anne Tuxen, and Helle Tuxen will all four take to the boards this week in Tokyo, Japan for the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup. This next step in the Tokyo Olympic process will begin for the Tigers on Sunday, May 2 and run through Wednesday, May 5.

Celaya-Hernandez will compete with his partner Yahel Castillo on the Three-Meter Synchronized event. Gutierrez Lavenant will compete on Women’s Platform. And the Tuxen sisters will compete on the Women’s Three-Meter Springboard, Platform, and Women’s Platform Synchro.

Calaya-Hernandez used a phenomenal season to earn SEC Diver of the Year honors, as well as his place on the All-SEC First Team. He started off the season against Alabama by sweeping the springboard events and earning SEC Diver of the Week honors. He dove to a score of 454.35 on the Three-Meter Springboard and 383.70 on the One-Meter Springboard to claim the victories. He once again earned SEC Diver of the Week honors after his performance at the Texas Diving Invitational where he won the One-Meter Springboard with a score of 423.00, and came in second on both the Three-Meter Springboard and Platform with scores of 467.55 and 466.05. Against Texas A&M he won both the One-Meter Springboard and Three-Meter Springboard events with scores of 405.22 and 441.00. At the Auburn Diving Invitational, he won both the Three and One-Meter Springboard with scores of 473.85 and 398.90.

At the 2021 SEC Championships, he claimed the gold on one-meter with a score of 440.45, claiming his fifth career SEC Championship. He then finished in second place on three-meter and fourth place on platform with scores of 472.40 and 345.50. He finished the SEC Championships as the highest diving point scorer of the championships and the sixth highest point scorer after all, earning him Diver of the Meet honors for the fourth time in his career.

At the 2021 Zone D Diving Regional, he finished in first place on the One-Meter Springboard with a score of 440.45. He also finished in second place on both three-meter and platform with scores of 854.55 and 793.80, qualifying him for the NCAA Championships in all three events.

At the 2021 NCAA Championships, Celaya-Hernandez earned the status of All-American on all three events he competed in. He was named an All-American on both One-Meter and Three-Meter after earning the bronze on both with scores of 405.25 and 452.50. He was then named an Honorable Mention All-American on Platform after finishing in fifth place in the Consolation Final with a score of 348.00. He closed out the championships as the highest diving point scorer and one of only three divers to score on all three events. Individually, he totaled 36 points at the championships, which is more than every other SEC school earned with all divers combined.

His performances at the NCAA Championships totaled his NCAA All-American performances to nine, giving him the most All-American performances by a diver in school history.

Gutierrez Lavenant was a driving force for the diving team this year in route to being named SEC Female Freshman Diver of the Year and making the All-SEC Freshman Team. In her first career meet against Alabama, she won the Three-Meter Springboard with a score of 334.65 and the One-Meter Springboard with a score of 324.60. Against Tulane, she won the One-Meter Springboard with a score of 319.95 and finished in second place on the Three-Meter Springboard with a score of 321.68. At the Auburn Diving Invite, she finished in second place on the Three-Meter Springboard with a score of 326.85, third on the One-Meter Springboard with a score of 288.10, and sixth on Platform with a score of 221.45. Against Texas A&M she finished third on the One-Meter Springboard with a score of 269.17 and sixth on the Three-Meter Springboard with a score of 254.93.

At the 2021 SEC Championships, she finished in fourth place on Platform with a score of 273.80, 13th on the One-Meter Springboard with a score of 262.20, and 20th on the Three-Meter Springboard with a score of 252.30. Closed out the SEC Championships as the highest placing freshman of the meet after her fourth place finish on platform.

At the 2021 NCAA Zone D Diving Regionals, she finished in seventh place on both the One-Meter Springboard and Platform with scores of 571.40 and 534.10. She also finished in 10th place on the Three-Meter Springboard with a score of 629.65. She qualified for the NCAA Championships in all three events.

At the 2021 NCAA Championships, was named NCAA Honorable Mention All-American after winning the Three-Meter Springboard Consolation Final with a score of 348.30… Also at the NCAA Championships, she finished in 17th place on the One-Meter Springboard with a score of 277.75. Her finish on three-meter is the highest finish by a freshman women diver under Coach Doug Shaffer.

Anne Tuxen started the season against Alabama by finishing in third place on the One-Meter Springboard with a score of 284.33 and fifth place on Three-Meter with a score of 277.95. At the Texas Diving Invitational, she finished in third place on Platform with a score of 276.05, and fifth place on both the One and Three-Meter Springboard with scores of 278.10 and 337.40. Against Texas A&M, she finished second overall on the One-Meter Springboard with a score of 287.10 and fourth on the Three-Meter Springboard with a score of 295.80.

At the 2021 SEC Championships, she notched a top-ten finish in all three events. She finished in fourth place on the Three-Meter Springboard with a score of 351.55, fifth on Platform with a score of 258.55, and seventh on One-Meter with a score of 283.90. At the 2021 NCAA Zone D Diving Regional, she finished in eighth place on Three-Meter with a score of 639.00, 10th on Platform with a score of 521.00, and 26th on One-Meter with a score of 232.75. She qualified for the 2021 NCAA Championships on Three-Meter and Platform. At the 2021 NCAA Championships, she finished in 32nd place on Platform with a score of 225.00 and 34th place on Three-Meter with a score of 263.05.

Helle Tuxen began her career against Alabama, where she finished in second place on both the Three-Meter and One-Meter Springboard with scores of 314.78 and 289.35. At the Texas Diving Invitational, she finished in second place on Platform with a score of 283.10, seventh place on the Three-Meter Springboard with a score of 269.90, and eighth place on the One-Meter Springboard with a score of 245.25. At the 2021 NCAA Zone D Diving Regional, she finished in eighth place on Platform with a score of 525.25, qualifying her for the 2021 NCAA Championships in the event. At the NCAA Championships, she finished in 38th place on Platform with a score of 208.25.

ORDER OF EVENTS FOR THE TIGERS
Sunday, May 2
Women’s Platform Synchro
Men’s Three-Meter Synchro

Monday May, 3
Women’s Three Meter (Prelims, Semi-Finals)

Tuesday, May 4
Women’s Three-Meter (Finals)

Wednesday, May 5
Women’s Platform

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