Sarah Bacon (born September 20, 1996) is an American diver. She earned her first Olympic medal in the 2024 Summer Olympics, winning silver in the women's synchronized 3 metre springboard with Kassidy Cook.

Sarah Bacon
Sarah Bacon, an American diver
Sarah Bacon
Personal information
Born (1996-09-20) September 20, 1996 (age 27)
Indianapolis, Indiana, U.S.
Height5 ft 4 in (163 cm)
Weight118
Sport
Country United States
SportDiving
Event(s)3 meter springboard, 3 meter synchro
College teamUniversity of Minnesota
ClubMinnesota Diving Academy
Medal record
Women's diving
Representing the  United States
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2024 Paris 3 m synchro
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2019 Gwangju 1 m springboard
Silver medal – second place 2022 Budapest 1 m springboard
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place 2019 Lima 1 m springboard
Silver medal – second place 2019 Lima 3 m synchro

High school career

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Bacon has been diving since 2004. Her first major competitive accomplishments were in 2014 when she was named the NISCA All-American Champion; in the same year she won in both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events at the 2014 Junior National Diving Championships, as well as the 1-meter event at the AT&T Senior National Diving Championships. She was the team captain for the FINA World Junior Diving Championships.[1][2]

College career

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After graduating from Cardinal Ritter High School, she went to the University of Minnesota. She performed well right away finishing 2nd against Wisconsin in the 1-meter event, and during her freshman year she was in 2nd place in 1-meter diving event at the 2017 NCAA Championships, 3rd and 4th place at the 3-meter and 1-meter diving event at the 2017 Big Ten Championships, respectively. She won in both the 1-meter and 3-meter events against Iowa, and 1st in 1-meter at the Minnesota Challenge.[1] She also placed 4th at the world championship trials in the 3-meter event.[2][3]

During her sophomore year (2017-2018) she was 1st in the 1-meter event at the NCAA Championships and the Big Ten Championships; she also was 2nd in the 3-meter event. She also finished 1st in both categories against Northwestern and Purdue, and took 1st in the 1-meter dive at both the Tennessee Collegiate Diving Invitational and the Minnesota Diving Invitational.[1][3] In 2018 she was 2nd at the USA Diving Winter Trials for the 1-meter dive and 3rd in the USA Diving Senior National Championships for the synchronized 3-meter dive with her partner, Kristen Hayden.[2]

During her junior year (2018-2019) she became the 2019 Big Ten Diver of the Year and the NCAA 1-meter diving champion, in the process breaking a previous 12 year record with a score of 363.20. Additionally she set the school and pool record for the 3-meter dive in the Big Ten Championships, with a score of 430.60.[1][3]

In 2019 she won the 1-meter (299.10) and 3rd (307.90) in the 3-meter, as well as 2nd in the 3-meter synchronized dive with Hayden (286.80), at the USA Diving National Championships. While competing for the USA she came in 2nd in the 1-meter dive (262.00) at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju.[2] Later in 2019, competing for the US she and partner Brooke Schultz won silver in the women's synchronized 3 m springboard event and then won the women's individual 1 m Springboard event (284.10) at the 2019 Pan American Games in Lima, Peru.[4]

In 2020, Bacon won the USA diving national championships in 3 meter synchro with her partner Kassidy Cook. They then went to the FINA grand prix in Madrid, Spain winning gold in 3 meter synchro. Bacon took silver in the individual 3 meter event as well. In 2020, she also competed in the Grand Prix meet in Rostock, Germany; she and Cook won gold in 3 meter synchro.

Olympic career

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Bacon, with her partner and longtime friend Kassidy Cook, qualified for the 2024 Paris Olympics on the 3 meter synchronized springboard for the United States. She also qualified in the 3m individual event.[5][6][7]

On July 27, 2024, Cook and Bacon won the first medals for the United States at the 2024 Olympics, earning silver in the 3 meter synchronized springboard event.[8]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Sarah Bacon - Women's Swimming & Diving". University of Minnesota Athletics. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
  2. ^ a b c d "Sarah Bacon". Team USA. 4 August 2019. Archived from the original on 4 August 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "Sarah Bacon | CollegeSwimming". www.collegeswimming.com. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
  4. ^ Abramovitch, Largo (2019-08-03). "Sarah Bacon, Brooke Schultz Go 1-2 at Pan American Games". Swimming World News. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
  5. ^ "Cook, Bacon secure spots on U.S. diving team". ESPN.com. 2024-06-18. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
  6. ^ "Kassidy Cook, Sarah Bacon secure Olympic diving spots by winning synchro event at US trials". AP News. 2024-06-18. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
  7. ^ "Cook and Bacon Qualify for U.S. Olympic Team in Synchronized 3-Meter". www.usadiving.org. 2024-06-18. Retrieved 2024-06-20.
  8. ^ "Team USA wins its first medal of the Paris Summer Olympics". LAist. 2024-07-27. Retrieved 2024-07-27.