Georgia’s own Carson Tyler will head to Paris to compete in the men’s 3-meter and 10-meter platform after earning the spots at the U.S. Olympic Diving trials on Saturday and Sunday.
Tyler — who is from Moultrie and graduated from Colquitt County High School — becomes the first American since 2000 to qualify in both individual events.
Having already earned a spot with a victory on the big tower Saturday, Tyler added the springboard to his Paris program by finishing second to Andrew Capobianco at the University of Tennessee aquatics center.
Tyler is the first American since Mark Ruiz in 2000 to qualify in both individual 3-meter and 10-meter events at the same Olympics.
“It feels amazing,” Tyler said. “Hearing that is just crazy. It really doesn’t sound real.”
Capobianco won the 3-meter contest with 971.80 points over his two lists of dives to make his second Olympic team. Tyler was next at 945.75.
Scores from the semifinal round carried over, with Capobianco taking a 21.65-point lead over Tyler into the final. He scored 81-plus points on five of his six dives, overcoming a fourth-round miss that received only 32.40.
“I definitely had more nerves today than I thought,” Capobianco said. “I had a pretty big lead coming into today. Usually, I’m pretty good at being the comeback kid and coming from behind, so I’m not really used to having that lead and having to try and keep it.”
Tyler capped his busy week by scoring no lower than 71 points on any of his six dives.
“I am definitely feeling it, but the adrenaline helps,” he said. “I was a little tired today, but I really just dug deep and we made it through.”
Likewise, Delaney Schnell will be competing in two events at the Summer Games. She had previously qualified in synchronized 10-meter with Jess Parratto.
Schnell finished the platform competition with 638.00 points over her two lists of dives. She took an 18.1-point lead into Sunday and held on despite some misses.
She scored 81 points on a front 3½ pike and added 77.55 points on a back 3½ tuck, but she also had two dives that scored below 50 points.
“Today was a tough one,” Schnell said. “I had the synchronized event and had to come off that high. I had to come back to the pool with pretty much no days off. It’s been go, go, go with lots of reps on 10-meter. I was battling a little exhaustion today, a little mental exhaustion.”
USA Diving could receive a second spot in women’s 10-meter after World Aquatics reallocates quota spots. Daryn Wright was runner-up to Schnell with 596.35.
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
WABE’s Patrick Saunders contributed to this report.
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
