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Bacon Earns Silver, Second Olympic Quota Spot for TeamUSA at World Cup
5/4/2021 10:14:00 AM | Women's Swimming & Diving
MINNEAPOLIS - On day four of the FINA Diving World Cup, CSCAA Diver of the Year Sarah Bacon let her excellence show as bright as it ever has, claiming silver on the three-meter springboard (348.75) to secure her second Olympic quota spot for TeamUSA of the Cup. The podium spot marks the first for TeamUSA at this year's World Cup, and even more impressively, the first time in over 30 years that a female has medaled on the three-meter board for the U.S.
"My one goal and mission coming into World Cup this week was to secure Olympic quota spots for TeamUSA at the 2021 Olympic Games," said Bacon. "At the 2019 world championships, I competed in the three-meter individual competition and failed to qualify an Olympic quota spot at that meet, so I was determined to not let that happen again. After securing the two this week, I was finally able to relax, breathe and let loose in the semis and final of my individual event. Tonight was all about having fun and I did just that. To be walking out of World Cup as a silver medalist is an unreal feeling, and I will enjoy it for a couple days before it's back to work to get ready for Olympic trials in June."
Bacon garnered her first Olympic quota spot of the Cup three days prior in the synchronized three-meter springboard event with her longtime synchro-partner Kassidy Cook, a multi-time All-American and former Olympic diver out of Stanford. The duo managed to place fifth in the event on Saturday morning to secure the spot for TeamUSA.
The last American to individually medal on the three-meter board at World Cup came in 1989, when Kelly McCormick earned a bronze medal for the Red, White and Blue. Throughout her career, McCormick was also a two-time Olympic medal winner in the event, garnering silver and bronze at the 1988 Seoul Games and 1984 Los Angeles Games, respectively.
The road to TeamUSA's first hardware of the event in more than three decades seemed fairly routine for the Indianapolis, Ind. native, who placed top-three in both the preliminary (3rd) and semi-finals (2nd) rounds as well before moving onto Tuesday morning's finals session. The finals session was nearly the exact same story, as the 2021 HONDA Sport Award winner for swimming and diving highlighted her near-350 five dive score of the finals with a pair of exceptional 73.50 score-dives on her opening and closing dive of the flight to reign in her first international hardware of the year.
Tuesday morning's event marked the last of the World Cup for Minnesota's 2020-21 diving captain, who will now be turning her sights towards the upcoming USA Olympic Diving trials which will take place at the Indiana University Natatorium beginning on June 6, 2021. There, she and Cook will look to claim the pair of Olympic quota spots they secured this week for themselves, in their respective events. If the duo manages to qualify in either event, it will mark Bacon's first ever Olympic bid and Cook's second.
As for the swimming side of things, the Olympic Swimming Trials will take place over the course of two events. Those two events, Wave I & II, will take place on June 4-7 and June 13-20, respectively, with the latter acting as the primary meet.
"My one goal and mission coming into World Cup this week was to secure Olympic quota spots for TeamUSA at the 2021 Olympic Games," said Bacon. "At the 2019 world championships, I competed in the three-meter individual competition and failed to qualify an Olympic quota spot at that meet, so I was determined to not let that happen again. After securing the two this week, I was finally able to relax, breathe and let loose in the semis and final of my individual event. Tonight was all about having fun and I did just that. To be walking out of World Cup as a silver medalist is an unreal feeling, and I will enjoy it for a couple days before it's back to work to get ready for Olympic trials in June."
Bacon garnered her first Olympic quota spot of the Cup three days prior in the synchronized three-meter springboard event with her longtime synchro-partner Kassidy Cook, a multi-time All-American and former Olympic diver out of Stanford. The duo managed to place fifth in the event on Saturday morning to secure the spot for TeamUSA.
The last American to individually medal on the three-meter board at World Cup came in 1989, when Kelly McCormick earned a bronze medal for the Red, White and Blue. Throughout her career, McCormick was also a two-time Olympic medal winner in the event, garnering silver and bronze at the 1988 Seoul Games and 1984 Los Angeles Games, respectively.
The road to TeamUSA's first hardware of the event in more than three decades seemed fairly routine for the Indianapolis, Ind. native, who placed top-three in both the preliminary (3rd) and semi-finals (2nd) rounds as well before moving onto Tuesday morning's finals session. The finals session was nearly the exact same story, as the 2021 HONDA Sport Award winner for swimming and diving highlighted her near-350 five dive score of the finals with a pair of exceptional 73.50 score-dives on her opening and closing dive of the flight to reign in her first international hardware of the year.
Tuesday morning's event marked the last of the World Cup for Minnesota's 2020-21 diving captain, who will now be turning her sights towards the upcoming USA Olympic Diving trials which will take place at the Indiana University Natatorium beginning on June 6, 2021. There, she and Cook will look to claim the pair of Olympic quota spots they secured this week for themselves, in their respective events. If the duo manages to qualify in either event, it will mark Bacon's first ever Olympic bid and Cook's second.
As for the swimming side of things, the Olympic Swimming Trials will take place over the course of two events. Those two events, Wave I & II, will take place on June 4-7 and June 13-20, respectively, with the latter acting as the primary meet.
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