The best divers in the world will jump off 32-foot diving boards and flip in the air in an attempt to bring home a gold medal to their country in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris starting July 26. However, the U.S. team has yet to be determined.
That’s about to change. And the center of the diving universe will take place right here.
Knoxville will host the U.S. Olympic Team Diving Trials starting Monday through June 23 at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Tennessee. The last time Knoxville had the U.S. Olympic Team Diving Trials was in 1976.
Here is what you need to know about the U.S. Olympic diving trails:
Divers to watch including Nike Agunbiade
The stakes are high for women’s diving stars Nike Agunbiade and Kristen Hayden, as one or both could become the first Black divers to represent Team USA at the Olympic Games.
The pair have already made significant strides in the sport. In 2021, Hayden broke barriers by becoming the first Black diver to qualify for the World Aquatics Championships. A year later, Agunbiade followed suit, becoming the second Black diver to qualify.
On the men’s side, divers like Tyler Downs and Andrew Capobianco hope to return to the Olympics. At 17, Downs qualified for his first Olympics in Tokyo and placed 23rd in the 3-meter springboard. He also won bronze at the 2023 Pan American Games in the 3-meter synchronized event in Santiago, Chile.
Capobianco was a silver medalist in the 3-meter synchronized springboard in Tokyo.
How to qualify for the Paris Games
The path to the Paris is not an easy one. To secure a spot on Team USA, divers must place in the top two of their respective categories after the total scores from the semifinal and final rounds are calculated. For synchronized pairs, the bar is even higher as they’ll need to finish in first place to claim a spot on the national team.
What is the judging criteria in diving
Judges rate dives on a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest score.
When scoring, judges evaluate the diver’s approach, take-off, flight, and entry into the water. When judging synchronization events, they also look at the divers’ coordination and the similarity of angles of entry.
For individual diving events, divers are judged by a panel of seven. When all the judges submit their scores for a dive, the two highest and two lowest scores are removed. The remaining three scores are added together and multiplied by the dive’s degree of difficulty to calculate the total score.
In synchronized events, divers are judged by a panel of 11. Five of the 11 total judges’ scores are used: the median execution score for Diver 1, the median execution score for Diver 2 and the middle three synchronization scores. The five scores are added together, multiplied by 0.6 and then multiplied by the dive’s degree of difficulty to determine the total score.
How to watch, stream Olympic Trials
Peacock, NBC and USA Network will stream live coverage of the U.S. Olympic Team Diving Trials, with Peacock airing coverage of every event and NBC airing coverage of every finals event.
How to get tickets, ticket prices
Tickets are available online and at the event.
Tickets are sold by seating section − gold, silver, and bronze. Prices for gold range from $60-$100, silver range from $45-$75, and bronze from $30-$50.
Where to park, parking prices
Parking is at N7 Garage, which is located off Volunteer Boulevard and Andy Holt Avenue. Parking is $20 per vehicle per day, and passes are valid for the entire day, with re-entry allowed. Passes are available upon entering the parking garage and can at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.
Diving schedule
Here is the full schedule:
Monday, June 17
Women’s synchro springboard prelim, 12:15 p.m.
Women’s synchro springboard final, 9:15 p.m.
Tuesday, June 18
Women’s synchro platform prelim, 11 a.m.
Men’s synchro springboard prelim, 12:10 p.m.
Women’s synchro platform final, 7:15 p.m.
Men’s synchro springboard final, 9:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 20
Women’s springboard prelim, 10 a.m.
Men’s platform prelim, 12:30 p.m.
Women’s springboard semifinal, 5 p.m.
Men’s platform semifinal, 7 p.m.
Women’s synchro platform final, 9:15 p.m.
Friday, June 21
Men’s springboard prelim, 10 a.m.
Women’s platform prelim, 1:15 p.m.
Men’s springboard semifinal, 5 p.m.
Women’s platform semifinal, 7:20 p.m.
Saturday, June 22
Men’s platform final, 1 p.m.
Women’s springboard final, 7 p.m.
Sunday, June 23
Men’s springboard final, 2 p.m.
Women’s platform final, 7 p.m.
Kamryn Jackson is a sports intern for Knoxville News-Sentinel. Email @Kamryn.Jackson@knoxnews.com. X, formerly known as Twitter @Kamxjack.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: US Olympic Team Diving Trials in Knoxville: How to watch, schedule
