Bacon and Pickens claim Olympic Quota Spots for Team USA in Women’s Three Meter
by USA Diving
Tokyo, Japan- On the third day of the FINA World Cup Trials, Sarah Bacon and Samantha Pickens competed for the two Olympic Quota spots in the Women’s Three Meter Individual event. To qualify both available spots, Bacon and Pickens needed to place in the top 18 in the preliminary round, which would also move them on to the semifinals. Out of the 48 athletes that took to the boards to compete, Bacon and Pickens placed third and sixth respectively and moved on to the semifinal round.
Once again, the duo executed solid lists and qualified for tomorrow’s finals by finishing second and eighth. Bacon, who had already helped Team USA qualify for the Women’s Three Meter Synchronized spot earlier this week with partner Kassidy Cook, performed impressive dives earning a total of 344.5 points in her semifinal round.
Pickens was originally named to the team as a reserve alongside Zachary Cooper for the men, in the event that any divers were unable to compete in events where the U.S. was still looking to qualify Olympic quota positions. After Cook was forced to withdraw from the individual three-meter due to injury, Pickens stepped in, not only securing the quota position but also qualifying for the finals.
Cooper, who also traveled to Tokyo as a reserve, competed in the Men’s 10 Meter Individual today, placing 10th in the prelims to earn a place in the semifinals. In the semifinals, Cooper once again put together an impressive list and qualified for tomorrow’s finals by placing 11th.
“I am extremely proud of how all of our athletes performed today,” said Dan Laak, High Performance Director for USA Diving, “Sarah and Sam knew what was at stake and they put their heads down and got the job done beautifully. Zach also not only competed in his first individual event at a Senior World competition, he made the finals, which says a lot about his composure and focus. I’m looking forward to seeing what all three of our athletes do tomorrow in the finals as well as finishing on a high note with Briadam in the individual three meter later this week.”
The event continues tomorrow with the finals for the Women’s Three Meter Individual and Men’s 10 Meter Individual.
The finals will be broadcast live on the Olympic Channel starting at 3am EST.
USA Diving will be covering this event live, so be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
For additional information on the FINA World Cup, visit fina.org.
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