Even though U.S. diver Carson Tyler didn’t make the semifinal of the men’s 10m platform diving competition on Friday, him competing at all was still historic. The 20-year-old is the first American man since 2000 to compete in both the individual springboard and platform events at a single Olympics.
"Hearing that is just crazy, It really doesn't sound real,” Tyler said at the U.S. Olympic Trials about qualifying for both diving events.
Here’s a look at Tyler and the history of divers competing in the double at the Olympics.
Who is Carson Tyler?
Tyler will be a rising junior at Indiana University this fall. He got into diving when he was 6 years old.
“I was taking tennis lessons when I was 5 years old and we were having a tennis camp one summer, and the courts were located next to Moss Farms,” Tyler told reporters before the Olympics. “I enjoyed watching them dive, and I would walk over there when I finished up my tennis lessons. My dad and I would walk over and watch them. They were always very nice to me.”
Tyler started diving at Moss Farms that year under coach John Fox, who is now the coach at Auburn University.
How many NCAA championships does he have?
In March, Tyler won his second straight NCAA 10m platform diving championship at Indiana University. Tyler’s score of 515.75 in the national championship was an IU record.
At that same NCAA championships, he also won the 3m diving competition, giving him three national titles for his career.
Who else is from Indiana?
Indiana University has sent a diver to every Olympics since 1964. Tyler joined fellow Hoosiers Jessica Parratto and Andrew Capobianco on Team USA in Paris this summer.
What else has Tyler won?
Tyler won bronze at the 2022 Diving World Championships in the mixed synchronized platform alongside partner Delaney Schnell. Unfortunately, mixed synchro is not an Olympic event.
How many Olympic divers have qualified for both the 10m platform and 3m springboard?
Tyler was the only man in Paris to compete in both diving events. Anisley Garcia Navarro, from Cuba, was the only woman to compete in both. She did not make the final for either event.
How did he do in Paris?
Tyler was the youngest competitor in the men’s 3m springboard competition, and still finished fourth.
Almost immediately after the springboard semifinals he went up to tower to practice on the platform. In Friday’s platform preliminary round, he finished 19th, just two points away from 18th with only the top 18 moving on to the semifinal.
What did Tyler have to say about his Olympic experience?
After the prelim for the platform competition on Friday, Tyler said, “I’m feeling a little let down, disappointed, but it’s been a good journey. I’m happy overall with how my first Olympics went.
“I mean training, it was just a lot of volume and really intense, so coming off a high last night into this, I’m sure there was some fatigue, but it’s definitely something I’ve worked with and had to learn and improve.
“The springboard is more of a 'rhythmic' sport, you have to be more springy and not as quick as on the platform. On the platform it is very much more explosive. So making that switch is important.”
What is the history of divers doing more than one event?
Thirty-two times an American has reached the finals in both individual diving events at an Olympics. No Americans have even tried it since 2000 when Mark Ruiz pulled off the feat.
Al White was the first diver to win gold in both events at the 1924 Olympics. Four years later, Pete Desjarnis also won gold in both.
In the women’s competition, Patricia McCormick won gold in both events at the 1952 and 1956 Olympics, and Greg Louganis won gold in both at the 1984 and 1988 Games.
The full list of Americans who have reached the finals in both diving events at a single Olympics is listed below, along with how they did in both.
1908:
George Gaidzik (bronze 3m, finals 10m)
Henry Grote (finals in both)
1912:
George Gaidzik (finals in both)
Arthur McAleenan (finals in springboard)
1920:
Bud Pinkston (silver in 3m, gold in 10m)
Louis Balbach (bronze in 3m, finals in 10m)
1924:
Al White (gold in both)
Bud Pinkston (bronze in both)
1928:
Pete Desjarnis (gold in both)
Mickey Galitzen (silver in 3m, bronze in 10m)
Georgia Coleman (bronze in 3m, silver in 10m)
1932:
Mickey Galitzen (gold in 3m, silver in 10m)
Harold Smith (silver in 3m, gold in 10m)
Georgia Coleman (gold in 3m, silver in 2m)
1936:
Marshall Wayne (silver in 3m, gold in 10m)
Dorothy Poynton-Hill (bronze in 3m, gold in 10m)
1948:
Bruce Harlan (gold in 3m, silver in 10m)
Sammy Lee (bronze in 3m, gold in 10m)
Patsy Elsener (bronze in 3m, silver in 10m)
1952:
Patricia McCormick (gold in both)
1956:
Patricia McCormick (gold in both)
1960:
Gary Tobian (gold in 3m, silver in 10m)
Paula Jean Myers-Pope (silver in both)
1968:
Keith Russell (made finals in both)
1972:
Mike Finneran (made finals in both)
Micki King (gold in 3m, finals in 10m)
Janet Ely (made finals in both)
Cynthia Potter (made finals in 3m only)
1978:
Greg Louganis (finals in 3m, silver in 10m)
1984:
Greg Louganis (gold in both)
1988:
Greg Louganis (gold in both)
2000:
Mark Ruiz (made finals in both)