INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — For the second time in her career, Florida State alum Katrina Young is heading to the Olympic Games following a second place finish in the women’s 10-meter platform at the U.S. Olympic Trials with a total of 984.70at the IUPUI Natatorium.
Heading into finals, Young was the leader with a total of 663.50 points after semifinals, in a four-way battle for two Olympic spots. She also posted the best prelim round at 347.55.
Young came out of the gate strong in the first round, opening with a solid 67.50-scoring front 3 ½ somersault in order to keep a small cushion from Murphy Bromberg in second, Delaney Schnell in third and Jessica Parratto in fourth.
In the second round, Young missed on her back 3 ½ somersault tuck, sending her to a solid third place, roughly 28 points away from a qualifying spot.
Young rebounded with her best dive of the meet, scoring 76.80 points on her back armstand 2 somersault with 1 ½ twists. In the fourth round, she hit her inward 3 ½ tuck for 73.50 points, however she sat in a solid third place.
Bromberg missed her final dive and as the last diver to go off the platform, the miss gave Young a shot, if she could score 7.5 or higher on her fifth dive.
“I was just trying to stay in the process,” Young said. “As my coach said, keep the blinders on.”
Young hit her back 2 1/2 somersault 1 1/2 twist pike for marks of 7.5 and 8.0 in order to secure the second Olympic qualifying spot by just under three points ahead of Bromberg (981.75).
“Katrina is one of most intense fighters I’ve ever seen,” FSU head diving coach John Proctor said. “I’ve watched what she went through, with all of us out of the pool and she is one of the toughest people I’ve ever met. She doesn’t have any quit in her and she stuck it out until the very end,
“It’s not over until it’s over,” Proctor added. “It was one of the most amazing things to watch and one of the best ‘in the moment’ performances I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t be more proud and happy for her.”
Young finished in 13th place at the 2016 Rio Olympics, just one spot shy of the final. She joins beach volleyball player Nick Lucena as Seminoles on the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team.
“I’m excited,” Young said. “I’m in the moment right now. I’m going to have to reset for that (the Olympics) and I’m so excited to have another shot,
“I live in Tallahassee and I went to Florida State and throughout my postgrad career and COVID specifically, FSU has been nothing but incredible as a home and community for me. I have to thank David Coburn for the support for keeping me in the pool and training. I’m so grateful for FSU, personally. It’s kept me training and in the pool and ready to dive here. Go Noles!”
The women’s 10-meter prelims at the Olympic Games will be held on August 4 at 2 a.m.
International Meets
Emma Terebo is also scheduled to compete at the Championnats de France Elite (June 15-20) and Nina Kucheran and Aryanna Fernandes will race in the Canadian Olympic Swimming Trials (June 19-23).
After competing in the European Championships for Bulgaria, Yordan Yanchev will also race in the Bulgarian Open (June 24-27). Izaak Bastian will be swimming at the Bahamas National Championships, looking to qualify for the Olympic Games (June 24-27).
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