Loukas Dives into Olympic Finals

is headed back to the Olympic diving finals.

Loukas, who hails from Riverwoods and graduated from , came up with an impressive performance Saturday in the women’s’ three meter springboard diving at the London Olympics.

Loukas scored a 339.75 in the semifinals to finish 6^th   and easily place in the top 12 scores that advanced to the finals. Loukas’ score on Saturday was nearly 10 points and one place higher than her preliminary score of 330.45 on Friday. Neither score carries over into the finals.

Loukas, who was 8^th in the Beijing Olympics in 2008, will now compete Sunday in the finals of the event. The finals are scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Chicago time or 2:30 p.m. London time.

Loukas, who said in a TV interview on Friday that she was: “just trying to be consistent,” was better than that in the semifinals. And she saved her best dives for last.

On her most difficult dive of the day, a forward 3-1/2 somersault, Loukas scored a 69.75. She then followed on her final dive, a forward, 2-1/2 somersault with a twist and scored a 72.0 on the dive. That got the Loukas family contingent of nearly 25 to scream in delight with L.

Loukas was very steady in her first three dives. She scored a 67.5 on her first dive, a back, 2-1/2 somersault. She then followed with another 67.5 with her reverse, 2-1/2 somersault and had a 63.0 on her inward, 2-1/2 somersault.

Loukas’ teammate Cassidy Krug also advances to the finals. Krug scored a 345.60 to finish 5^th on Saturday.

Editor's Note--This event was televised live earlier today on Channel 5 so there was no need for a spoiler alert.