So how does it all work?

I've had lots of questions about Riley and the Olympics. Starting with his success in March last year when he won a spot for Canada, its a little bit confusing as to why we don't know yet if he will actually be going to Beijing this August. He's been to a number of competitions the past few months and while they are all important in terms of training and experience, none have impacted Olympic selection. Thought I'd post a brief explanation as to what happens now.

Working backwards, the Olympic Trials to determine which two Canadian divers represent Canada will happen here in Victoria June 19th through the 22nd. The divers will compete twice, preliminaries and finals. The scores from both events will be added together and the top two divers will be #1 and #2 and earn 5 points and 3 points respectively.

Prior to June, six divers including Riley competed in Regina and were successful in obtaining a national standard score (380) which gave them the opportunity to also dive in one or two Grand Prix events. Riley will be diving in Montreal and Fort Lauderdale in May. Depending on results of the Grand Prix events, any diver could earn "bonus" points which will be added to their June Trial results. The bonus points are hard to earn; scores are hard to obtain and only Riley and Reuben have scored high nationally and neither has scored that high internationally. Its possible that none of the six divers will earn bonus points and the Trials will be the sole determining factor. Confused? Will post details as they come available.