Feb. 22, 2016

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — University of South Carolina sophomore Julia Vincent competed in the 3-meter springboard diving event on Monday at the FINA Diving World Cup in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, finishing with a score of 259.80. Late Monday night, South Carolina head diving coach Todd Sherritt was informed that the score was high enough to represent Vincent’s native South Africa in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Vincent’s entry to the Rio Olympics still must be confirmed by SwimSA, the national governing body for swimming & diving in South Africa, but her score is high enough to compete for the nation this summer on the world’s biggest stage.

The score of 259.80 is Vincent’s highest career mark in international competition. She finished 28th at Monday’s event, which included many of the top divers in the world and was held at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre, site of the diving events at this summer’s Olympic Games.

“Julia had a pretty good day. She missed her front 3 1/2 but finished strong, hitting her last two dives,” said Sherritt. “Now we set our focus on the NCAA Zone Diving Championships. We’ll make some adjustments on our fronts and see if we can bring home a national title.”

Vincent was diving in Rio just four days after competing at the SEC Championships, where she scored points in two events. The sophomore placed sixth in the 1-meter and 14th in the 3-meter at the conference meet.

UP NEXT FOR CAROLINA

Vincent will lead the Gamecock divers at the NCAA Zone Diving Championships, to be held March 7-9 in Atlanta, Ga. The NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming & Diving Championships run March 17-19.

Diving events at the Rio Olympics will be contested August 7-19.