Olympic silver medalists Delaney Schnell, Jessica Parratto and Andrew Capobianco headline the U.S. roster for July’s world diving championships in Fukuoka, Japan.
Schnell and Parratto won the national title in the synchronized platform. This year, they are competing together for the first time since taking silver in Tokyo, the best U.S. Olympic finish ever in that event.
Schnell also won the individual platform at nationals in Morgantown, West Virginia. The 24-year-old was fifth at the Olympics and earned bronze at the 2019 World Championships, the lone U.S. Olympic or world medal in the event since 2005.
Schnell is joined on the world team in the individual platform by Nike Agunbiade, coming off her senior season at USC. Last year, Kristen Hayden became the first Black diver to compete for the U.S. at a world championships. Next year, Agunbiade or Hayden could become the first Black U.S. diver to make an Olympic team, USA Diving believes.
On the 3m springboard, Sarah Bacon and Hailey Hernandez fill the two world team spots. Bacon took silver at the last two worlds on the 1m springboard, which is not an Olympic event.
Hernandez, ninth in the Tokyo Olympic springboard, edged out Krysta Palmer for the second world team spot by 5.5 points after 600 points worth of dives. In Tokyo, Palmer took springboard bronze to become the first U.S. woman to win an individual Olympic diving medal since 2000. Palmer, who was out for much of 2022 after hip surgery, did make the world team in the mixed-gender synchro springboard, which is not on the Olympic program.
Bacon and Kassidy Cook won the national title in the synchro springboard for the world team spot in that event.
For the men, Capobianco was the lone Olympic medalist competing at nationals, having taken silver in Tokyo in synchro springboard with Michael Hixon. Capobianco won the national title on the 3m springboard and is joined on the world team in the event by fellow Olympian Tyler Downs. Downs and Greg Duncan won the synchro springboard.
In men’s platform, Olympian Brandon Loschiavo won national titles individually and with Jordan Rzepka in synchro to make the world team in both events. Max Flory grabbed the second individual platform spot for worlds.
At last year’s worlds, the U.S. earned three medals — Bacon‘s silver in the 1m springboard (not an Olympic event), Schnell and Katrina Young‘s silver in the women’s synchro platform and Schnell and Carson Tyler‘s bronze in the mixed synchro platform (not an Olympic event).
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