Four More Divers Punch Their Tickets to Paris at Olympic Trials

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Tyler Downs (Ballwin, Mo./West Lafayette, Ind.) and Greg Duncan (Oakton, Va./West Lafayette, Ind.) came out ahead in a close men’s synchronized 3-meter final to earn an Olympic berth, while Delaney Schnell (Tucson, Ariz.) and Jess Parratto (Dover, N.H./Bloomington, Ind.) qualified in women’s synchronized 10-meter as the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for diving continued Tuesday.

Downs and Duncan finished with 811.41 points over two lists of dives to edge Andrew Capobianco (Holly Springs, N.C./Bloomington, Ind.)  and Quinn Henninger (Denver, Colo./Bloomington, Ind.) by just 2.37 points. Downs and Duncan led by .15 points after the afternoon preliminaries.

Downs will make his second trip to the Olympic Games, while Duncan qualified for the first time.

They took a 20-point lead into the final round, but Henninger and Capobianco closed out their list with 95.76 points on the high degree of difficulty front 4 ½ somersaults tuck to put the pressure on the leaders. Downs and Duncan responded with 78.12 points on a front 3 ½ somersaults pike, just enough to remain atop the standings.

Downs said he wasn’t aware how close the contest was.

“I was just doing my thing. Obviously, hearing the crowd let us know if we were doing well or not, but I didn’t look at the scoreboard, so I didn’t know where we were or what we needed,” Downs said.

Duncan also tried to remain calm in the moment.

“As best as I could, I was just trying to focus on the practice cues that we have been working on every single day for the past 8-10 years and keeping myself as calm and composed as possible because it’s an emotional atmosphere,” Duncan said.  

Schnell and Parratto, the silver medalists in Tokyo, easily qualified for another Olympic Games with 607.14 points on their two lists of women’s synchronized 10-meter dives to win the trials by more than 100 points.

It will be Parratto’s third Olympic Games and Schnell’s second.

“I try not to look at the scoreboard, but I think we knew we had a chance. We just wanted to do five good dives. There were even some dives I wanted to improve upon and get a little bit better.  Obviously, it was good enough and a really good and solid last dive for us,” Parratto said. “It was just all of the emotions coming together of the past three years, and just not expecting, honestly, to be where I am right now. Going to a third Games is just crazy.”

Parratto had planned to retire after Tokyo, but Schnell encouraged her to give it one more go, and the duo got back together in 2023.

“(Delaney) got me out of retirement. A couple of months of prying. Obviously, it was my decision, and I was happy to come out of retirement just for synchro because it’s such a fun event. I wanted to give it one more shot with Delaney next to me. It was all so perfect. It was just as surprising to me too, I surprised myself,” Parratto said.

Schnell will look to qualify individually starting on Friday.

“Sports are just where you just have to expect the unexpected. For me, it was just a sigh of relief, and now I can go into individual and have a breath of fresh air and stay calm. We already made one event, and I get to relax and breathe,” Schnell said.

The 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Diving run through June 23. Divers will take a day off from competition on Wednesday before the focus shifts to the individual events. Thursday’s action features preliminaries and semifinals in women’s 3-meter and men’s 10-meter.

2024 U.S. Olympic Team Trials – Diving Results
June 18, 2024 – Knoxville, Tenn.

Women’s Synchronized 10-Meter Final
1. Jessica Parratto/Delaney Schnell, 607.14; 2. Gabrielle Filzen/Bailee Sturgill, 494.13; 3. Emilie Moore/Kaylee Bishop, 477.39; 4. Katerina Hoffman/Abigail Knapton, 458.43

Men’s Synchronized 3-Meter
1. Greg Duncan/Tyler Downs, 811.41; 2. Andrew Capobianco/Quinn Henniger, 809.04; 3. Jack Ryan/Grayson Campbell, 795.51; 4. Maxwell Miller/Luke Sitz, 689.46; 5. Zachary Welsh/Jake Welsh, 671.04; Joshua Sollenberger/Nathaniel Grannis, 665.43