Now, the country that used to dominate the board and platform with stars such as Pat McCormick and Greg Louganis is eager to reclaim its legacy, to turn back the gold tide coming from the Far East.

If the Americans are going to make a splash at the Beijing Games, they’ll likely be relying on a daring group of teens to keep up with the Chinese.

Keep an eye on 19-year-old David Boudia. And 18-year-old Thomas Finchum. And 15-year-old Haley Ishimatsu.

Even while veterans such as Laura Wilkinson and Troy Dumais look to return for their third Olympics, it’s clear the Americans will be relying on an increasingly younger group of divers to make it back to the medal stand.

“They’re awesome,” said Wilkinson, who’s 30 now and won the last diving gold for the U.S. at the 2000 Sydney Games. “We have a lot of talent coming up. It’s fun to watch them. I mean, all my competition seems like it’s 15 and younger. … It’s a little intimidating. They’re doing great. I think they’re going to be a force over the next four years.”

The kids get a chance to shine this week at the U.S. Olympic trials in Indianapolis, which begin Wednesday and will determine the leading members of the team that heads to China in August.

The rest of the squad will be picked at a training camp in Knoxville, Tenn., next month, part of a new system that evolved out of the 2004 debacle.

For the first time since 1912, the Americans failed to win a diving medal at an Olympics they attended. The Chinese, solidifying themselves as the world’s superpower, won six of the eight events in Athens.

China will surely lead the medal table in its home pool, but the U.S. hopes to prevent the Big Red Machine from pulling off a golden sweep—especially after what happened at the last Olympics.

“It really motivated us,” Ishimatsu said. “Now we have to prove that we are a strong country. We’d like to be one of the best right now. We’re really looking forward to going to the Beijing Olympics and winning some medals this time.”

Boudia appears to be the best hope of the bunch.

He won a bronze medal on the 10-meter platform at this year’s FINA World Cup, and his pairing with Finchum in synchro has produced a steady stream of international medals off the high board.

“I think David is in great shape,” said Russian veteran Yulia Pakhalina, an Olympic gold medalist. “I don’t want to jinx anything, but he’s just amazing. At the World Cup in Beijing, he was great. And he could have been even better. Nothing against the judges, but I think they could have scored him a little higher.”

Finchum came out of nowhere to nearly make the Olympic team in 2004, even though he could barely be seen from the pool deck when standing 33 feet above the water. He was only 5-foot-2 and might have weighed 100 pounds if soaking wet.

Since then, Finchum has grown nearly a foot (he’s 6-1) and has added more than 50 pounds to his frame. He’s had to cope with the striking changes in his body, including some back and knee problems, but now feels comfortable in his own skin.

“I’ve grown a lot and I feel more mature as an athlete,” he said. “I feel like my diving in a little more polished. Instead of being a little sloppy, I now focus a lot on my form and try to make everything look as beautiful as possible.”

Finchum and Boudia were both home schooled, allowing more time for their diving, and their pairing on the synchro platform has bonded their relationship even though they remain fierce competitors in their individual events.

“We really do push each other along,” Finchum said. “I think we’ve done a good job of balancing friendship and competitiveness. It’s something that’s kind of hard to do, but we’ve stayed friends.”

The 4-11 Ishimatsu is as fearless as she is talented. In the sport for less than four years, she’s already the only female diver in the world performing a back 2 1/2 pike, with its staggering 3.6 degree of difficulty.

“She’s one of the most phenomenal kids I’ve ever seen,” said Ken Armstrong, a longtime U.S. coach who works with Wilkinson. “She’s a special athlete. If someone is going to do it and it’s not someone from my team, I hope it’s her. She’s really good.”

Ishimatsu followed a familiar path to diving, starting out as a gymnast before moving to the pool.

“It’s not too much of a difference, except in gymnastics you have to stick it on your feet and in diving you have to land on your head,” she said with a grin. “That was the hardest switch for me.”

Oh, and there’s one other thing she had to cope with—a fear of heights. When Ishimatsu decided to try diving shortly after her 12th birthday, she didn’t comprehend just how scary 10 meters can be when you’re looking down from the platform.

“I didn’t realize how tall that was. But I’m OK with it now,” she said. “As long as I’m doing my dives off it, it’s not so bad.”

Ishimatsu, who made her international debut just a year after taking up the sport, could be a medal threat in Beijing given her remarkably quick rise through the ranks. That said, she’ll probably be a more serious contender in 2012.

Wilkinson has taken the youngster under her wing, doling out advice and showing just how to handle the most pressure-packed situations. This will be the 30-year-old’s final Olympics, and she’s eager to do her part in a changing of the guard to the next generation.

“I’ve been at the top, I’ve been at the bottom and I know how everything in between feels,” Wilkinson said. “Whether she has a rough one or a good one, I want to be there for her and support her. I keep telling her, ‘It’s just the beginning for you. It’s OK if you miss a dive.”’

Obviously jarred by the failure to win any medals in Athens, USA Diving decided some drastic changes were needed. The first national training center was set up in Indianapolis, copying the centralized training system that helped make the Chinese so dominant.

Also, divers must endure a grueling series of camps and meets in order to make international teams, with the emphasis on consistency and performing under pressure instead of just being the best diver on a given day.

Not everyone is pleased with the new system, which will be on prominent display in selecting this Olympic team, but everyone seems to think it will produce a stronger group for Beijing.

“It has flaws, just like any system does, but the idea is we want the most consistent people vying for spots and Olympic medals and world medals,” Dumais said. “You have to keep qualifying and showing judges, selectors, the world, that you deserve to be up there. It means you can’t go home and be a couch potato. You have to be responsible for your own actions.”

That’s especially important with such a young group of divers coming up through the ranks.

“The more responsibility you take for your dives,” Dumais said, “the more you get to do it under pressure situations, the more experience you get and the better you become.”

Everyone is eager to see how the kids perform at these trials—and, if they make the Olympic team—in Beijing.

“I think USA Diving has a great future ahead of it,” Finchum said. “And not only the future, but these upcoming Olympics. We have a lot of great talent. Everyone is capable of performing and beating the Chinese and the Russians and all of them.”