Courtesy: USA Diving
2021 FINA World Cup Silver Medalist and Four-Time NCAA Champion, Sarah Bacon (Minnesota) and Brooke Schultz (Unattached) earned their tickets to the 2022 FINA World Championships after leaving the rest of the field behind in the Women’s 1-Meter Finals at the 2021 USA Diving Winter National Championships.
Bacon dominated the field, heading into her final round of dives with a 10-point gap to eventual silver medalist, Brooke Schultz. She started the final round strong, earning 8.5’s across the board on her first dive, an Inward 1 1/2 Somersault Pike. Throughout the final round, she smoothly executed her list earning an average score of over 7.5 from the judges. Bacon ended the competition 16 points ahead of Schultz with a total score of 566.25.
Schultz earned the silver medal and second berth to the FINA World Championships after putting together two solid lists. She started the final round with a 10-point advantage over the remainder of the competitors and continued to consistently hit her dives, her third being her best in which she scored 64.5 points on her Reverse 2 1/2 Somersault Tuck. Schultz’s final score of 540.20 set her nearly 22 points ahead 2020 Olympian Hailey Hernandez who earned bronze.
Bacon and Schultz earned Gold and Silver respectively in the event in the 2019 Pan American Games.
The Men’s 3-Meter finals were reminiscent of the 2020 Olympic Trials as 2020 Olympians, Tyler Downs (Purdue) and Andrew Capobianco (Indiana) went head-to-head once again. The pair entered the final round with Olympic Silver Medalist Capobianco leading by six points. After nailing his first dive, a Forward 3 1/2 Somersault Pike for 8.5’s and 9’s in the first round, Downs brought the competition within one point. The two continued to remain within points of each other in the competition, with Capobianco and Downs at 727 and 726 points respectively heading into fifth round of dives when Downs nailed his Reverse 3 1/2 Somersault Tuck for straight 9’s putting a gap of 28 points between him and his Tokyo teammate.
In the end, Downs, who qualified earlier in the competition in the 3-Meter Synchronized event with Greg Duncan, punched the first individual men’s ticket to the World Championships with a cumulative score of 897.5. Capobianco, who placed 7th in the Olympic 3-Meter individual finals after the Olympic Silver medal in the synchronized event with partner Michael Hixon, placed with score of 875.10 earning his return trip to Japan.
Carson Tyler (Indiana) had a stunning final round, moving from fifth to the bronze medal position. The Indiana University freshman had already earned his spot on the World Championships roster on the first day of competition where he won gold with Hoosier teammate, Tarrin Gilliland, in the Mixed Synchronized Platform.
All four members of the 2020 Olympic Diving Team who are competing at the 2021 USA Diving Winter National Championships, Downs, Capobianco, Delaney Schnell and Hernandez, have qualified for the upcoming World Championships.
Final Results
Women’s 1-Meter
1 Sarah Bacon (U) 566.25
2 Brooke Schultz (U) 540.20
3 Hailey Hernandez (TEX) 518.40
4 Mackenzie Crawford (U) 508.75
5 Margo O’Meara (U) 500.75
6 Kyndal Knight (U) 499.75
7 Mia Vallee (MIAF) 497.75
8 Anne Fowler (JDA) 492.45
9 Kennedy Cribbs (U) 485.60
10 Emily Pfeiffer (PUR) 477.10
11 Paige Burrell (UNC) 461.50
12 Lily Witte (U) 440.75
13 Nike Agunbiade (USC) 434.20
Men’s 3-Meter
1 Tyler Downs (PUR) 897.50
2 Andrew Capobianco (JDA) 874.10
3 Carson Tyler (JDA) 815.30
4 Quentin Henninger (JDA) 812.95
5 Gregory Duncan (PUR) 806.75
6 Anton Down Jenkins (UNC) 789.60
7 Noah Duperre (TEX) 779.05
8 Maxwell Weinrich (DDC) 723.45
9 Conor Casey (U) 715.75
10 Maxwell Flory (MIAF) 705.25
11 Clayton Chaplin (U) 693.20
12 Lyle Yost (U) 690.90
13 Jack Ryan (U) 670.50
Competition will resume tomorrow at 10:00 am EST with the qualifying round of the Women’s 3-Meter Individual followed by the Men’s 10-Meter Individual at 1:00 pm. The Women’s 3-Meter finals will begin at 4:30 pm EST with the Men’s finals beginning at 5:45pm. All events will be streamed live on USA Diving’s Facebook, YouTube, and Twitch Channels as well as on USA Diving’s website.
For results and live scoring, visit: https://secure.meetcontrol.com/divemeets/system/meetresultsext.php?meetnum=7305
For more event information, visit: https://www.teamusa.org/USA-Diving/Events/2021/December/13/Winter-Nationals
To purchase tickets, visit: https://usadiving.ticketspice.com/2021-usa-diving-winter-national-championships
USA Diving will be covering this event live, so be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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