Gotro Competes for Olympic Spot at U.S. Diving Trials
June 19, 2016
COLUMBIA, S.C. – University of South Carolina rising senior Jordan Gotro will compete for a spot in the Rio Summer Olympics when he dives at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Diving Trials. Gotro will participate in the 3-meter springboard competition, with prelims beginning Monday, June 20 at 10 a.m. ET.
The top 18 finishers from 3-meter prelims will advance to the semifinals, to be held at 7 p.m. ET on June 20. From there, the top 12 advance to finals on Saturday, June 25 beginning at 4:40 p.m. ET. The two highest finishers at the end of the finals round will earn a spot on the U.S. Olympic Team and will compete at the Rio Olympics.
The semifinal round on June 20 will be televised live on NBCSN beginning at 7 p.m. NBC will televise 3-meter finals on June 25, with coverage beginning at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Gotro achieved his Olympic Trials qualifying score on March 7 at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships in Atlanta, when he posted a score of 382.55 in prelims. The junior went on to qualify for the NCAA Championships in the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform, and was an NCAA All-American in the platform.
A rising senior from Sacramento, Calif., Gotro’s 2015-16 season was the strongest of his three years at South Carolina. He tallied 11 event victories over the course of the year and qualified for the A final in all three disciplines at the SEC Championships. He capped his collegiate season at the NCAA Championships with his first career All-America honor.
Gotro is vying to become the fourth Gamecock diver to perform at the Olympics, following in the footsteps of Vivian Alberty (Atlanta 1996), Michelle Davison (Sydney 2000) and Tracey Richardson (Athens 2004). Two Gamecocks competed at the 2012 Olympic Trials: Courtney Forcucci, who finished 16th in women’s 3-meter, and Rylan Ridenour, who placed 22nd in men’s 3-meter.
A contingent of 11 Gamecocks will compete at U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials beginning June 26 in Omaha, Neb.: current student-athletes Emma Barksdale, Cody Bekemeyer, Jeremiah Bohon, Jonathan Boland, Kersten Dirrane, Paige Maynard, Jack Smith, Meredith Vay and Taylor Worrell, assistant coach Kevin Swander and alumnus Michael Flach.
Gamecocks Akaram Mahmoud and Julia Vincent have already officially punched their tickets to the Rio Summer Olympics in August. Mahmoud will swim for Egypt, while Vincent will dive for South Africa.
