INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Troy Dumais is looking for more than just a third trip to the Olympics, so no need to pat him on the back for leading after the preliminaries of the 3-meter springboard Friday.

Starting with a 30-point lead, Dumais protected most of his margin heading into the evening semifinals. He botched one dive but still totaled a score of 502.75 points.

Just as quickly, he shrugged off what it all meant.

“Qualifying for the Olympics is not what I’m going for,” said Dumais, who competed for the U.S. at both Sydney and Athens. “I have to set that aside. Yes, qualifying and going through the rounds, doing all that stuff, is an important piece of the puzzle. But if I can’t make it to the Olympics, then I can’t win gold. So it’s gold or go home for me.”

The 28-year-old native of Ventura, Calif., finished sixth on springboard at the last two Olympics.

Twenty-time American champion Mark Ruiz, also seeking a third trip to the Olympics just nine months after coming out of retirement, was sixth out of 12 divers in the prelims but within range of third. The finals will be held Saturday.

“It felt great,” said Ruiz, who retired after the 2004 Olympics. “The more pressure I feel, the better it is for me. Sometimes, I think I get a little bit too lackadaisical, a little bit too relaxed and don’t necessarily perform as well as I’m capable of. At the high pressure meets, I tend to perform better.”

He’s certainly under pressure at this meet. Only the winner will earn a trip to Beijing, with the other spot to be determined at a selection camp in Tennessee next month.

The top six will be invited. Considering Ruiz was out of the sport for more than three years, he would really have to stand out to have any chance of being picked.

There’s work to do. Ruiz was solid on all of his dives but failed to hit any for big marks. His score of 420.80 trailed Dumais, Chris Colwill (477.50), Justin Wilcock (449.15), Jevon Tarantino (426.50) and Aaron Fleshner (423.55).

“I’m definitely within striking distance,” Ruiz said. “Now, it’s a matter of really performing well, making sort of a statement and hopefully getting into that camp. If I can get into that camp, we’ll see what happens. It would give me more time to further prepare.”

Dumais scored well on his first four dives, then under-rotated the entry on his reverse 3 somersault with a tuck, receiving marks as low as 5.0. He was actually outscored over the six dives by Colwill, but started the competition with 30 bonus points for his fourth-place showing at the World Cup in Beijing this year.

“I’d rather not have it or be in the hole,” Dumais said. Why? “Look what happened to the Lakers (when they blew a big lead in Game 4 of the NBA finals). It’s a simple as that. When you’re ahead by so much, you’re not doing your thing. You’re not doing your job. You tend to sit back and relax. I don’t like that.”

Colwill didn’t receive any marks lower than 7.5. He has 60 percent hearing loss but picked up his family and friends cheering him on at the Indiana University Natatorium.

“My goal was to start out really strong,” he said. “I usually have to catch up. This time, I started out right.”