Sarah Bacon can add another achievement to already incredible resume: Olympic qualifier.
The former Minnesota diver earned a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team Monday night as she partnered with Kassidy Cook to win the women’s 3M synchro event at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Knoxville, Tenn.
The day started with prelims where Bacon and Cook scored a 311.55, 11 points clear of the field. With scores carrying over to Monday night’s finals, Bacon and Cook had a small lead but put distance between themselves and their competitors by posting the top score in each of the first three rounds in the evening session.
A final-round performance of 70.20 gave the pair a final score of 629.82, more than 30 points ahead of second place, sending both to her first Olympic Games.
Still on the schedule for Bacon at the Trials is the individual 3-meter board. Prelims are Thursday with the finals Saturday.
With Monday’s performance, Bacon joins Kelci Bryant as the only female Gopher divers to compete in the Olympics. Bryant won silver in the same event, 3M synchro, at the 2012 Olympics.
Bacon remains the most decorated female champion in Minnesota history with five NCAA titles, three on the 1-meter (2018, ’19, ’21) and two on the 3-meter (2021, ’22). No other female athlete in school history has more than two NCAA titles. In fact, Bacon is tied for the most NCAA titles of any athlete in any sport. The accolades for Bacon are numerous, including being a 10-time All-American, four-time Big Ten champion, three-time All-Big Ten First Team, two-time Big Ten Diver of the Year, two-time Big Ten Diver of the Championships and 2018 NCAA Co-Diver of the Championships.
The 2021 Big Ten Female Athlete of the Year and 2021 CSCAA Women’s Division I Diver of the Year, Bacon ended her career with the conference record for the 1-meter and 3-meter and the NCAA Championship Record on the 1-meter. In addition, she was the 2021 HONDA Sport Award Winner for Swimming & Diving, becoming the only woman in Minnesota history to earn the HONDA Sport Award for any sport and the first diver to ever win the Swimming & Diving specific award.
The 2024 Olympics run from July 26 to August 11 with Bacon’s event scheduled to take place on July 27 at the Aquatics Centre.
She is the second Gopher to earn a spot in Paris, joining swimmer Bar Soloveychik, who was chosen to be part of Israel’s 4×200 medley relay team.
(info and photo courtesy of Gopher Sports)
