DIVING AT THE PAN AM GAMES#

USA Diving is heading into the Pan American Games Santiago 2023 and the Olympic Games Paris 2024 with experience on its side. Seven of the 11 divers on the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team made the 2023 world championships team, and three will compete at the 2023 Pan American Games.Tokyo 2020 bronze medalist Krysta Palmer and 2020 Olympians Tyler Downs and Hailey Hernandez will lead a team of 10 divers in Santiago. 2020 Olympic silver medalists Andrew Capobianco, DelaneySchnell andJess Parratto along with 2020 Olympian Brandon Loschiavo also made the 2023 world championships team. Still, earning spots on the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team will be challenging given the depth of the U.S. team.

Take women’s 3-meter, for example. The U.S. has three women who have finished in the top six individually at major world meets in the past three years. But, only two spots are available for Paris 2024. Palmer won bronze at the the Tokyo Games. Hernandez was a finalist in Tokyo 2020 and finished sixth at the 2023 world championships. Sarah Bacon was fifth at the 2022 world championships and made finals in 2023. Spots on the U.S. Olympic Team could come down to who is most consistent at trials.

The U.S. still needs to qualify for women’s 3-meter synchro. But, Bacon and Kassidy Cook are one of the top teams internationally. They medaled at two world cup meets in 2023 and finished fourth at the world championships. Cook, a 2016 Olympian, will be looking to become the second U.S. diver to make two non-consecutive Olympic teams.

Capobianco and Downs both made the men’s 3-meter final at the 2023 world championships, with Capobianco later winning bronze at the World Cup Super Final. Capobianco won synchro silver in Tokyo 2020 and will be aiming for Paris 2024 in that event as well. Capobianco’s new synchro partner, Quinn Henninger, is also a 3-meter individual contender. Downs also will be vying to make the 2024 U.S.Olympic Team in synchro, as he and Greg Duncan have won three national titles and finished fourth at the 2023 world championships.

Schnell has emerged as the top U.S. woman on 10-meter, having won national titles in 2022 and 2023 and finishing fifth at the 2023 world championships. The U.S. still needs to qualify a second 10-meter quota spot, and any number of women could challenge for a spot on the Olympic team. Nike Agunbiade, who was second at the 2023 national championships, and Jordan Skilken, who was second at the 2022 winter nationals, will compete at the 2023 Pan Am Games. Two-time Olympian Katrina Young and Daryn Wright, a finalist at the 2022 world championships, will also be in the mix at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials. In synchro, watch for Schnell and Parratto, who won silver at the 2020 Gamesand took bronze at the 2023 world championships.

The U.S. still needs to qualify its two men’s 10-meter quota spots, but a number of divers will be in the mix to make the team. Jordan Rzepka, who won gold at the 2022 winter national championships, and Max Flory, a semifinalist at the 2023 world championships, will compete 10-meter at the 2023 Pan Am Games. Others to watch for include Loschiavo, a 2020 Olympic finalist and 2023 national champion, Joshua Hedberg, who finished fourth at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials at age 15 and was a 2022 world championships finalist, and Zach Cooper, a semifinalist at the 2022 world championships.

• Tyler Downs — Downs had finished no higher than 10th at nationals before he came through with a surprise win on 3-meter at the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team Trials to make the U.S. Olympic Team as a teenager. Since then, he has also represented the U.S. at the world championships in 2022 and 2023, and will compete at the 2023 Pan American Games. He advanced to the finals for the first time in 2023, when he placed 11th individually on 3-meter at the world championships. He and synchro partner Greg Duncan have won the last three U.S. national titles in 3-meter synchro.
  
  
• Hailey Hernandez — She may not have the highest degree of difficulty in the field, but Hernandez is known for her consistency. She rarely misses a dive. The 2020 Olympian finished sixth on 3-meter three times in three 2023 international competitions, including the world championships and the World Aquatics World Cup Super Final. She was ninth at the 2020 Games as an 18-year-old. She has finished first or second on 3-meter in all four U.S. competitions dating back to the U.S. Olympic Trials in 2021. She will compete in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events at the 2023 Pan Am Games.
  
  
• Krysta Palmer — Palmer won an individual 3-meter bronze at the Tokyo Games, becoming the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic medal in that event since 1988. Palmer did not compete fo rnearly two years after that while recovering from injuries and surgery. She returned to competition in May 2023 and finished third on 3-meter at the USA Diving National Championships. The 2023 Pan American Games will mark her first international competition in that event since the 2020 Games.