Courtesy: USA Diving
KNOXVILLE, Tennessee – Sarah Bacon won women’s 3-meter and Joshua Hedberg took gold in men’s 10-meter as the 2023 USA Diving Winter National Championships wrapped up Wednesday.
Hailey Hernandez and Brandon Loschiavo won silver, with the top two divers in each event qualifying to represent the United States at the World Aquatics Championships in Doha, Qatar in February.
Bacon scored 648.00 points over two lists of dives to win the 3-meter title at Winter Nationals for the second year in a row. She scored 327.25 points in the semifinals to carry a 14.05-point lead into the final and then scored 63 points or higher on four of her five dives in the final to extend her lead.
“Throughout the week, I’ve felt very confident on these boards. I love this facility. The boards are great,” Bacon said. “I had a good prelim and a good semifinal, and I just tried to do exactly what I did in the prelims and semis in the final today, which was relax, have fun, trust my training, trust my diving and trust my coach Wenbo. It was a good time out there.”
Hernandez scored 580.60 points for the silver, with Alison Gibson finishing third at 576.80.
Hedberg came through with 897.85 points on two lists of 10-meter dives to win his second gold of the week after also winning the men’s synchronized 10-meter title earlier in the championships. Loschiavo won the individual 10-meter silver with 844.75 points, while Carson Tyler – Hedberg’s synchro partner – secured the individual bronze with 808.35 points.
Hedberg, a four-time junior national champion on platform, won his first individual senior national title. He scored more than 80 points on three of his six dives in the final, including 83.25 on his front 4 ½ tuck.
“I’ve just been trying to stay consistent throughout the competition, and I think it went pretty well. I think my reverse 3 ½ and my front 4 ½ today were pretty big hits for me today, and I’m pretty happy about those,” Hedberg said. “I’m going to keep working hard these next few weeks to get ready for worlds. It’s going to be fun.”
