INDIANAPOLIS — In a reversal of the last U.S. Olympic diving trials, Kassidy Cook and Sarah Bacon secured their spots for Paris with a victory in the women’s synchronized 3-meter springboard on Monday.
Cook and Bacon became the first divers on the American team, totaling 629.82 points with two rounds of dives on the opening day of trials at the University of Tennessee aquatic center.
Bacon qualified for her first Olympic team after just missing a spot on the 2020 team. Cook, a 2016 Olympian, became the first American female diver to make non-consecutive Olympic teams.
Cook and Bacon finished second to Alison Gibson and Krysta Palmer in the synchro event at the 2020 trials, with Bacon also finishing third individually on the springboard.
This time, it was Gibson and Palmer settling for the runner-up spot with 599.49 points.
The winning duo, who train together in Minneapolis, closed out the finals with 70.20 points on their last dive, a front 2 1/2 somersaults with one twist. When they hit the water, they knew they had clinched a spot on the team.
“It was that moment when all your hard work comes to fruition," Cook said. “Sometimes that doesn’t always happen. You don’t always get the result you want, and that’s happened to us before.”
Bacon was favored to make the last Olympic team, but came up short in both of her events. That motivated her to keep competing.
“It just lit a fire underneath me,” she said. "Honestly, I was planning on retiring after that Olympics, so it kept me diving. I wanted to make an Olympic team.”
Bacon hails from Indianapolis but starred for the University of Minnesota diving team. She remains the most decorated female champion in Minnesota history with five NCAA titles, three on the 1-meter (2018, '19, '21) and two on the 3-meter (2021, '22). No other female athlete in school history has more than two NCAA titles.
The U of M media service says Bacon is tied for the most NCAA titles of any athlete in any sport. Her accolades are numerous, including being a 10-time All-American, four-time Big Ten champion, three-time All-Big Ten First Team, two-time Big Ten Diver of the Year, two-time Big Ten Diver of the Championships and 2018 NCAA Co-Diver of the Championships.
A two-time NCAA champion and world silver medalist on the 1-meter board, Bacon won the 3-meter synchro event with Kassidy Cook at U.S. winter nationals in December. The Bacon-Cook tandem won gold at two international meets earlier this year. They train in Minneapolis and are coached by Wenbo Chen, head men's and women's diving coach at the U of M.
“We faced a lot of obstacles over the last couple of months together, years honestly,” Bacon told USA Diving following their Olympic-level performance. “Injuries and all that kind of stuff, so just coming through all of that and making my first Olympic and her second Olympic team. I don’t have any words right now for it.”
Bacon, Gibson and Palmer will also be among those vying for two individual women’s 3-meter spots on the Olympic team. Palmer won a bronze in that event at the Tokyo Olympics, one of three medals claimed by the U.S. team.
The trials continue through Sunday.
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