Though we’re not DiveDove, we do dabble in diving coverage, and as diving can have a major impact on the NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships, we cover NCAA Zone Diving – mainly through the lens of how national diving qualifiers could impact the team points battles later this month.
2021 NCAA Zone Diving
- Zone A: Greensboro Aquatic Center / Greensboro, NC
- Thursday, March 11 – Saturday, March 13
- Live Results
- Zone B: Greensboro Aquatic Center / Greensboro, NC
- Sunday, March 7 – Tuesday, March 9
- Live Results
- Zone C: University of Kentucky / Lexington, KY
- Sunday, March 7 – Tuesday, March 9
- Live Results
- Zone D: University of Kentucky / Lexington, KY
- Thursday, March 11 – Saturday, March 13
- Live Results
- Zone E: Northern Arizona University / Flagstaff, AZ
- Monday, March 8 – Wednesday, March 10
- Live Results
The Miami Hurricanes won both diving events on day 2 of the Zone B Championships, and Tennessee’s men added a fourth NCAA diver.
Miami’s storied dive program took home titles on women’s 3-meter (Emma Gullstrand) and men’s platform (Zach Cooper). The Swedish freshman Gullstrand was second on 1-meter yesterday and won 3-meter today in a banner weekend for the rookie. Cooper is a platform specialist who will make a return trip to NCAAs in that event. He was 4th at the national championships in 2019, with only one of the divers ahead of him returning this year.
Tennessee’s men added Keegan Richardson, who was 7th on platform. He joins Bryden Hattie, Will Hallam, and Matthew Wade on the NCAA roster. Hattie, a freshman was third on 3-meter Sunday and second on platform Monday.
In other qualifying news that could impact the team points battles, Florida qualified one more men’s diver on day 2. Leonardo Garcia was fourth on platform and earned his NCAA bid. He was inside the top 12 on 3-meter yesterday, so although he didn’t earn his invite there, he is now eligible to dive that event at NCAAs by virtue of being inside the top 12.
Florida has two women’s divers qualified. Ashley McCool added 3-meter as a second event and Elizabeth Perez qualified Sunday.
Current Qualifiers
Reimbursed divers are in bold, with invited-but-not-reimbursed divers in non-bold. You can read more about the distinction below.
| Women | |
| Diver | Events |
| Emma Gullstrand, Miami | 1m, 3m |
| Mia Vallee, Miami | 1m, 3m |
| Aranza Vazquez Montano, UNC | 1m, 3m |
| Camryn Hidalgo, Georgia Tech | 3m, 1m |
| Ashley McCool, Florida | 1m, 3m |
| Elizabeth Perez, Florida | 1m |
| Emily Grund, UNC | 1m, 3m |
| Maddison Pullinger, Duke | 1m |
| Maha Gouda, FIU | 3m |
| Men | |
| Diver | Events |
| Anton Down Jenkins, UNC | 3m |
| Zach Cooper, Miami | Pl |
| Brodie Scapens, Miami | 3m, Pl |
| Bryden Hattie, Tennessee | 3m, Pl |
| Maxwell Flory, Miami | 3m, Pl |
| Joshua Davidson, FSU | 3m |
| Leonardo Garcia, Florida | 3m, Pl |
| Alexander Hart, UNC | 3m |
| Will Hallam, Tennessee | 3m, Pl |
| Matthew Wade, Tennessee | 3m |
| Keegan Richardson, Tennessee | Pl |
| Seamus Harding, Duke | Pl |
SIMPLIFIED INVITE PROCEDURES
You can read a more in-depth look at the selection process here. Effectively, each Zone earns a specific number of qualifying spots in each event, based on how that Zone performed at NCAAs last year. Divers who place inside the qualifying places earn an NCAA invite. A diver invited in one event can compete at NCAAs in any other diving event where they were top 12 in their Zone meet. The highest-placing divers earn NCAA reimbursement, while lower-placing qualifiers can compete at NCAAs, but their school must pay for their travel and lodging at the meet.
The MANVOL divers will score more points than the manvol swimmers.