The 2024 U.S. Olympic Diving Team Trials will be held in Knoxville, Tennessee at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center from June 17 to June 23. The U.S. has qualified spots in seven out of eight diving events for the Paris Games, so only seven events will be contested at Trials (the U.S. did not earn a quota spot in men’s synchro platform). 

Unlike at the Olympics, USA Diving uses cumulative scores across multiple rounds to determine the winners of each event at Trials. For synchro events, the pair with the highest combined score from the preliminary round and final will qualify for Paris. For individual events, the athlete(s) with the highest combined score(s) from the semifinal and final (not including the first preliminary round) will qualify for Paris.

In what likely will be the closest competition at this year’s Trials, Krysta Palmer and Alison Gibson will square off against Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook for the right to represent the U.S. at the Paris Games. Both pairs were close to making a world championship podium this Olympic cycle, and while only one can go to the Games, both have the potential to win a medal. Although both duos separated for some time post-Tokyo, they have each reunited to make a strong bid for Paris.

Palmer and Gibson beat Bacon and Cook at the Tokyo Trials to earn the right to compete at the Games, where they finished eighth overall in 3m synchro. Palmer, the lone U.S. diver to win an individual medal at the Tokyo Olympics with 3m bronze, missed most of the 2022 season after having hip surgery. She made her competitive return at the U.S. Championships in May 2023, where she qualified to compete in the non-Olympic mixed synchro event at the 2023 World Championships. Palmer continued her steady comeback with an individual bronze medal in the 3m springboard at the 2023 Pan American Games last October, but the Nevada native admitted her return to the sport hasn’t been easy: “There was a time where I didn’t really know if I could make a comeback from it. It was a surgery that could have taken me out of diving completely," she said. 

Meanwhile, Gibson made a “spontaneous comeback from retirement” in 2023 and reunited with Palmer at U.S. Winter Nationals last December, her first full-fledged competition since Tokyo. In their first meet back as a pair, Palmer and Gibson won the winter national title in 3m synchro to qualify for the 2024 World Championships, where they finished fourth overall in the event. If the duo qualifies at Trials, Palmer will become the second-oldest female U.S. Olympic diver in history at age 32.

A 2016 Rio Olympian, Cook also stepped away from diving and didn’t compete internationally in 2022 following a series of serious shoulder injuries. Along with fellow diver Jessica Parratto, Cook temporarily moved to Philadelphia post-Tokyo and began working full-time as a healthcare recruiter. Although Cook still dove during her spare time, Bacon encouraged her to come back as her synchro partner, prompting Cook to quit her job and return to the sport full-time in 2023.

After winning silver in Tokyo, Delaney Schnell and Jessica Parratto will be the favorites once again to win the women’s 10m synchro event at Trials. A two-time Olympian, Parratto retired from diving following the Tokyo Games to “finally be a normal person” and moved to Philadelphia to be closer to her sister and other family members in the area. She began working from home as a healthcare recruiter alongside 3m synchro diver Kassidy Cook, but just a year into her retirement, Schnell slowly began trying to convince her to return. A few months later, Parratto quit her job and chose to fully return to diving in January 2023.

After only being back together for six months, Parratto and Schnell finished third at the 2023 World Championships and were the only American divers to make the podium at the meet. A daughter to an All-American diver and Olympic swimming coach, it was almost inevitable that Parratto would end up in the pool. Her father, Mike Parratto, coached 12-time Olympic medalist Jenny Thompson and also three-time Olympic medalist Regan Smith during their junior years. Her mother, Amy Parratto, was a collegiate diver and served as Jess’s coach until she was 14. While Parratto will only compete in synchro at Trials, Schnell will also contest the individual 10m platform event.

Similar to the women, there are two strong pairs in the men’s 3m synchro event heading into Trials. Tyler Downs and Greg Duncan finished fourth at last year’s World Championships and will have a good chance to qualify after a strong 2023 season. In addition to their performance at last year’s Worlds, the pair finished third at a 2024 World Cup in March and won the 2023 national title. Although Downs competed in Tokyo in individual 3m springboard, he has yet to make an Olympic team in synchro.

The other pair to watch for is Andrew Capobianco and Quinn Henninger. The pair won at U.S. Winter Nationals in December but finished ninth at the 2024 World Championships in Capobianco’s first competition back from knee surgery. Capobianco had knee surgery following winter nationals to fix an issue with his patellar tendon and said he only had three total days of training with Henninger in the lead up to 2024 Worlds. The North Carolina native also admitted that the pair performed an easy set of dives since he was still building up strength in his knee, contributing to the pair’s low result. 

Capobianco, who won 3m synchro silver in Tokyo with the now retired Michael Hixon, said his partnership with 21-year-old Henninger greatly differs from his relationship with Hixon, who served as a mentor to him during his first Olympics in Tokyo. 

“At the start of me and Quentin’s synchro partnership, I would say I was kind of trying to base everything off of Mike because it was so successful last time,” said Capobianco. “Realizing that people are different and that people need different things has been a really interesting but rewarding journey. I would say, because it wasn't a very good start with me and Quinn… It’s been up and down pretty much. But we do know that our ceiling is really high. And so if we're able to put it together this summer, we know that we can be up there challenging for medals, and even like the gold medal potentially.”

Sarah Bacon, who finished fifth at the 2024 World Championships, and Hailey Hernandez, who finished ninth in Tokyo, will be among the favorites to qualify in the women’s 3m springboard. Bacon finished third at the Tokyo Olympic Trials, but the 27-year-old will have a strong chance to make the team for Paris after earning two World Cup medals in the 3m springboard this year.

Bacon has dealt with several injuries in her career, including shoulder injuries, stress fractures in her back, and concussions. However, the Indianapolis native said her body has been in good shape this Olympic cycle. “I feel great. I feel like I'm in probably the best shape of my life. Diving wise, I feel amazing on board."

A 2020 Tokyo Olympian, Hernandez will also have a strong chance to make her second straight Olympic team. Hernandez is a two-time world junior silver medalist (1m, 3m springboard) and finished sixth in the 3m springboard at last year’s senior World Championships in Fukuoka. While Purdue and Indiana have become powerhouses in collegiate diving, the Southlake native chose to stay close to home and attend the University of Texas.

In one of the more intriguing competitions at Trials, 26-year-old Brandon Loschiavo will face 17-year-old rising star Joshua Hedberg for the U.S.’s sole Olympic spot in the men’s 10m platform.

Loschiavo, who made his Olympic debut in Tokyo, has been one of the more consistent Americans in the event throughout this Olympic cycle. Loschiavo finished fifth at the 2023 World Cup Super Final and more recently at a 2024 World Cup in March, making him one of the favorites heading into Trials.

Hedberg was one of the top stories at Tokyo Trials after he finished fourth in the 10m platform event at just 14-years-old. Now a two-time world junior bronze medalist (2022 – platform and synchro platform), Hedberg could be in legitimate contention once again for Paris. The Indiana native won in the 10m platform at U.S. Winter Nationals in December and finished 19th overall at his first-ever senior world championships in 2024. Hedberg grew up splitting his time between trampoline, tumbling and diving, but after qualifying for trampoline/tumbling nationals and diving junior nationals the same year, his parents made him pick one. He of course chose diving, launching his quick path to stardom in the sport.

Tyler Downs and Andrew Capobianco will return to competition in the individual 3m springboard where both will be favorites to qualify. Downs came into the 2020 Tokyo Trials as an outside contender, but the Missouri native provided one of the biggest surprises of the competition after winning the 3m springboard to qualify for his first Olympics. Downs would go on to finish 23rd in Tokyo, but he’s since become one of the top Americans, winning the event at U.S. Winter Nationals in December.

Capobianco, who finished 10th in the event in Tokyo, is also expected to be a top contender at Trials after winning the event at the 2023 U.S. Championships last spring. Capobianco had knee surgery following U.S. Winter Nationals last December, but the North Carolina native said in April that he’s back to full-strength and confident in his ability to perform high difficulty dives.

After finishing sixth at the 2023 World Championships, Delaney Schnell is the heavy favorite heading into Trials in the individual women’s 10m platform. Schnell, who also earned silver in 10m synchro at the Tokyo Games, finished fifth in the individual platform event during her Olympic debut. In 2019, Schnell became the first American woman to earn an individual platform medal at a World Championships since 2005, earning bronze in the event.

Although Schnell will be the prevailing favorite, other athletes to watch for include Daryn Wright, who finished second at U.S. Winter Nationals and two-time Olympian Katrina Young, who finished 17th in Tokyo.

Since Tokyo, Young has had several major changes in her life, including getting married to her husband Mike and moving to southern California to train at USC. The Washington native says she has “unfinshed business” at the Olympics after failing to win a medal at both the Rio and Tokyo Games. Young also has a strong love for music, and in her free time, she sings at small venues near her home in California.