KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Purdue alumnus Greg Duncan teamed with Olympian Tyler Downs to win synchronized 3-meter diving together Tuesday at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, clinching a trip to Paris for the Olympic Games.
Duncan was a Big Ten champion and four-year All-American for the Boilermakers from 2019-22 and Tuesday he became an Olympian for the first time at the age of 25. He continues to train under Purdue coaches Adam Soldati and David Boudia at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.
Downs was USA Diving's youngest Olympic qualifier (on 3-meter) three years ago at 17 and is now a two-time Olympian before his 21st birthday next month. He was an NCAA champion on platform for the Boilermakers in 2022, but opted to forgo the remainder of his college career to focus on national and international events with USA Diving.
With the synchronized events at the Olympics dating back to 2000, Duncan becomes the first Boilermaker to be an Olympian in 3-meter synchro. Previously, Boudia (2008, 2012, 2016), Mary Beth Dunnichay (2008) and Steele Johnson (2016) qualified in 10-meter synchro.
Duncan joins Maycey Vieta (10-meter for Puerto Rico) as Boilermakers to qualify for 2024 Olympic Games. Purdue will have male and female Olympians in diving in the same year for just the second time (2008).
Duncan & Downs finished with 811.41 points (404.10 prelim, 407.31 final) over two lists of dives to edge Indiana University's Andrew Capobianco and Quinn Henninger (809.04) by just 2.37 points. Duncan & Downs had a 20-point lead going into the final round when Capobianco & Henninger ripped their final dive (forward 4 ½) for a big score of 95.7. But Duncan & Downs' consistency held up and a host of 8s or better on the final dive (forward 3 ½ pike) of the event led to a score of 78.12 that was just enough to seal the victory.
Duncan & Downs overcame Capobianco & Henninger's advantage in degree of difficulty (18.5-17.4), which was on the dive sheets over the final two rounds. They made up for it with their consistency, winning the afternoon prelim by 0.15 points to earn the right to dive last in the final. Duncan & Downs then extended that lead to 16.47 points over the first three rounds of the final. And for the day, they did not score fewer than 70 points on any of their dives with a DD of at least 3.0 (rounds 3-6 of the prelim and final).
"As best as I could, I was just trying to focus on the practice cues that we have been working on every single day for the past 8-10 years and keeping myself as calm and composed as possible because it's an emotional atmosphere," Duncan said.
Downs added, "I was just doing my thing. Obviously, hearing the crowd let us know if we were doing well or not, but I didn't look at the scoreboard, so I didn't know where we were or what we needed."
Purdue's Max Miller and Zach Welsh also competed in Tuesday's 3-meter synchro. Miller placed fourth with teammate Luke Sitz and Welsh finished fifth with his twin brother Jacob. Both tandems were pairings of teenagers.
Duncan & Downs had won USA Diving national titles together in 3-meter synchro at the 2022 Winter Nationals and 2023 National Championships, earning the right to compete at the 2023 World Aquatic Championships. It was at Worlds in Japan last summer that they finished fourth to earn USA Diving its Olympic bid after host France (auto-bid) placed third. But Capobianco & Henninger were victorious at the 2023 Winter Nationals in December, earning the right to represent the U.S. at the most recent World Aquatics Championships in February.
Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook (3-meter) along with Jessica Parratto and Delaney Schnell (10-meter) were the women's winners of the synchronized events this week to earn Team USA's Olympic bids. The U.S. men did not qualify for the 2024 Olympics in synchronized 10-meter so the event was not contested.
Wednesday is a training day at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the University of Tennessee's Allan Jones Aquatic Center. Individual events begin Thursday with women's 3-meter and men's 10-meter. Duncan and Downs compete again Friday when the men's individual 3-meter event begins. Not including Downs, there are 11 Boilermakers competing in Knoxville this week.
Duncan was a Big Ten champion and four-year All-American for the Boilermakers from 2019-22 and Tuesday he became an Olympian for the first time at the age of 25. He continues to train under Purdue coaches Adam Soldati and David Boudia at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center.
Downs was USA Diving's youngest Olympic qualifier (on 3-meter) three years ago at 17 and is now a two-time Olympian before his 21st birthday next month. He was an NCAA champion on platform for the Boilermakers in 2022, but opted to forgo the remainder of his college career to focus on national and international events with USA Diving.
With the synchronized events at the Olympics dating back to 2000, Duncan becomes the first Boilermaker to be an Olympian in 3-meter synchro. Previously, Boudia (2008, 2012, 2016), Mary Beth Dunnichay (2008) and Steele Johnson (2016) qualified in 10-meter synchro.
Duncan joins Maycey Vieta (10-meter for Puerto Rico) as Boilermakers to qualify for 2024 Olympic Games. Purdue will have male and female Olympians in diving in the same year for just the second time (2008).
🔜 Paris 🇫🇷@_tylerdowns and @GregDuncan_ are on their way to the #ParisOlympics!
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) June 19, 2024
#MTUSA | #DivingTrials24 pic.twitter.com/LFrdL4K4aN
Duncan & Downs finished with 811.41 points (404.10 prelim, 407.31 final) over two lists of dives to edge Indiana University's Andrew Capobianco and Quinn Henninger (809.04) by just 2.37 points. Duncan & Downs had a 20-point lead going into the final round when Capobianco & Henninger ripped their final dive (forward 4 ½) for a big score of 95.7. But Duncan & Downs' consistency held up and a host of 8s or better on the final dive (forward 3 ½ pike) of the event led to a score of 78.12 that was just enough to seal the victory.
Duncan & Downs overcame Capobianco & Henninger's advantage in degree of difficulty (18.5-17.4), which was on the dive sheets over the final two rounds. They made up for it with their consistency, winning the afternoon prelim by 0.15 points to earn the right to dive last in the final. Duncan & Downs then extended that lead to 16.47 points over the first three rounds of the final. And for the day, they did not score fewer than 70 points on any of their dives with a DD of at least 3.0 (rounds 3-6 of the prelim and final).
"As best as I could, I was just trying to focus on the practice cues that we have been working on every single day for the past 8-10 years and keeping myself as calm and composed as possible because it's an emotional atmosphere," Duncan said.
"We're ready."
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 19, 2024
Greg Duncan and Tyler Downs look ahead to Paris after a dramatic win at #DivingTrials24. pic.twitter.com/tCaPLDcZdR
Downs added, "I was just doing my thing. Obviously, hearing the crowd let us know if we were doing well or not, but I didn't look at the scoreboard, so I didn't know where we were or what we needed."
Purdue's Max Miller and Zach Welsh also competed in Tuesday's 3-meter synchro. Miller placed fourth with teammate Luke Sitz and Welsh finished fifth with his twin brother Jacob. Both tandems were pairings of teenagers.
Duncan & Downs had won USA Diving national titles together in 3-meter synchro at the 2022 Winter Nationals and 2023 National Championships, earning the right to compete at the 2023 World Aquatic Championships. It was at Worlds in Japan last summer that they finished fourth to earn USA Diving its Olympic bid after host France (auto-bid) placed third. But Capobianco & Henninger were victorious at the 2023 Winter Nationals in December, earning the right to represent the U.S. at the most recent World Aquatics Championships in February.
Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook (3-meter) along with Jessica Parratto and Delaney Schnell (10-meter) were the women's winners of the synchronized events this week to earn Team USA's Olympic bids. The U.S. men did not qualify for the 2024 Olympics in synchronized 10-meter so the event was not contested.
Wednesday is a training day at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the University of Tennessee's Allan Jones Aquatic Center. Individual events begin Thursday with women's 3-meter and men's 10-meter. Duncan and Downs compete again Friday when the men's individual 3-meter event begins. Not including Downs, there are 11 Boilermakers competing in Knoxville this week.
DRAMA in Knoxville. 😲
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) June 19, 2024
Greg Duncan & Tyler Downs qualify for the Olympics by TWO points with their last dive! #DivingTrials24 pic.twitter.com/hno3OeYrD4