Just two days after claiming a national title off the 3-meter board, Lake Forest College diver Heath Ogawa added another All-American performance in the 1-meter competition, tallying 515.40 points to finish third at the NCAA Division III Championships at the Indiana University Natatorium in Indianapolis.
Ogawa began Friday night's finals in second place with 189.00 points from his five voluntary dives in the afternoon prelims. He fell to fourth after his third dive of the evening but climbed back into third by earning 63.00 points, his highest total of the event, on a reverse two-and-a-half somersault in the tuck position. He was unable to complete that dive in the prelims, which put him in jeopardy of losing his spot in the eight-member finals field. Ogawa tallied 114.30 points on his final two attempts combined but could not catch the two divers ahead of him in the standings.
Despite the failed dive, Ogawa completed the 1-meter prelims in eighth place with 447.50 points. He tied his score from one of the other five dives and surpassed three others in the evening.
Ogawa is now a three-time All-American, having also finished eighth in the country in 1-meter diving as a freshman. He was among the top 16 to garner Honorable Mention All-American status from the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) in his other three events at the national meet during his career.
With a title and a third-place finish this year, Ogawa earned 36 points for Lake Forest at the meet, which was good for 16th place with Saturday's five swimming events remaining. The Foresters' best finish at the national meet was 17th in 1983 and 1986. They also posted a top-20 finish in 1994 when Daniel Tarkowski turned in the only other individual title in program history, tying for first in the 100-freestyle, and the team placed 19th.
Ogawa finished the 2017-18 season with 21 victories in 23 events.
