Courtesy: USA Diving
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Sarah Bacon (Indianapolis, Ind./Minneapolis, Minn.) and Alison Gibson (Austin, Texas) will represent the U.S. in women’s 3-meter springboard at the Olympic Games after finishing first and second in Saturday’s final at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials. Carson Tyler (Moultrie, Ga./Bloomington, Ind.) also punched his ticket to Paris with a win in men’s 10-meter.
Bacon scored 639.00 points to win 3-meter and add a second event to her Paris schedule. She had already secured a spot in synchronized 3-meter earlier in the week. Gibson finished with 635.10 points to qualify for her second Olympic Games after competing in synchronized 3-meter in Tokyo.
Just 7.55 points separated first from third place heading into the last round of the 3-meter contest.
“We have a lot of very good women’s 3-meter divers in this country. It’s a very deep field. It’s almost more stressful in the Olympic Trials than it is overseas against the other countries I would say, just because there are so many good female divers here in the U.S.,” Bacon said.
Krysta Palmer (Reno, Nevada), the 2020 Olympic bronze medalist in 3-meter, finished third with 629.25 points.
Gibson scored 70.50 points on her fourth-round dive, a reverse 2 ½ pike, to take the lead by a tenth of a point over Bacon heading into the last round, while Palmer was only 7.45 points out of second.
Palmer scored 69.70 points on a front 2 ½ with two twists to set the stage in the last round. Gibson followed with 68 points on the same dive. Bacon dove last and performed the less difficult front 2 ½ with one twist and came through with 72 points, the highest scoring dive by any diver in the final.
Bacon led by 23.55 points after Thursday’s semifinals, but she missed her second and third dives to tighten the gap.
“I think my heart and everyone else’s hearts kind of sunk during that event when I missed two dives pretty badly. My coach (Wenbo Chen) just said that I gave him a couple more gray hairs after that event,” Bacon said. “I was able to pull through on my last two, which I’m really happy about. I got myself together, hit my last two dives, and was able to qualify for my second event. It feels great. I’m excited to get back to training a little more before Paris and get ready to roll.”
Gibson stepped away from diving after the 2020 Olympic Games, but Palmer – her synchro partner in Tokyo and at these trials – was among those who helped convince her to come back in the fall of 2023.
“Krysta is everything to me. She literally called me back into this sport. I would not be standing here today if it wasn’t for her. She has played an essential role in helping me grow as a person, as a competitor, as a friend. So much credit to her. This success is her success as well,” Gibson said.
Tyler finished with 965.45 points over two list of men’s 10-meter dives, including 488.25 points on his list in Saturday’s final.
“I can’t put it into words, it’s so amazing. All the hard years of training just paid off, and I’m so happy,” Tyler said. “I was trying just to take it step by step, one foot in front of the other and not get too outcome oriented. I was confident in myself and thought I could make it happen.”
The 20-year-old Tyler scored 81.60 points or higher on four of his six dives in the finals, including 86.40 points on his last dive – a back 2 ½ with 2 ½ twists, to secure his first Olympic berth. He added 90.75 points on a back 3 ½ tuck that received three 9.5s and three 9.0s from the judges.
Tyler is also in contention to make the Olympic team in men’s 3-meter. He sits in second place heading into Sunday’s final.
USA Diving will await word on a potential second quota spot in men’s 10-meter after World Aquatics reallocates quota spots.
2020 Olympian Brandon Loschiavo (Huntington Beach, Calif./West Lafayette, Ind.) finished second at 892.30 points. Loschiavo saved his best for last, closing out his list with 86.70 points on a reverse 3 ½ tuck and 88.80 points on a front 4 ½ tuck in the last two rounds of the finals.
The U.S. Olympic Team Trials wrap up Sunday, June 23 with men’s 3-meter and women’s 10-meter finals.
2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Diving Results
June 22, 2024 – Knoxville, Tenn.
Men’s 10-Meter Final
1. Carson Tyler (Johansen Diving Academy), 965.45; 2. Brandon Loschiavo (Purdue Diving), 892.30; 3. Joshua Hedberg (The Indiana International School of Diving), 856.70; 4. Tyler Wills (Purdue Diving), 850.30; 5. Jordan Rzepka (Purdue Diving), 839.60; 6. Zachary Cooper (Miami Diving), 770.00; 7. Misha Andriyuk (Stanford Diving), 763.35; 8. Maxwell Flory (Miami Diving), 754.55; 9. Kaden Springfield (Purdue Diving), 741.30; 10. Clayton Chaplin (Unattached), 675.65; 11. Benedict Nguyen (Unattached), 645.70; 12. Maxwell Weinrich (Johansen Diving Academy), 564.95
Women’s 3-Meter Final
1. Sarah Bacon, Unattached, 639.00;2. Alison Gibson, Longhorn Aquatics, 635.10;3. Krysta Palmer, Unattached, 629.25;4. Kristen Hayden, Johansen Diving Academy, 594.60;5. Sophie Verzyl, RipFest, 587.40;6. Anne Fowler, Johansen Diving Academy, 581.80;7. Hailey Hernandez, Longhorn Aquatics, 572.80;8. Kyndal Knight, Kentucky Diving Club, 561.95;9. Samantha Pickens, City of Midland, 551.00;10. Samantha Vear, Unattached, 531.90;11. Margo O’Meara, Unattached, 507.00;12. Anna Kwong, Unattached, 501.40