UVA’s Towbin Wins Again On Day 2 of Zone A Diving

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.

2019 NCAA ZONE DIVING

• Zones A, B, D, E: Monday, March 11 – Wednesday, March 13
• Zone C: Thursday, March 14 – Saturday, March 16
• Host schools with live results links:
  • Zone A: U.S. Naval Academy – Annapolis, MD
  • Zone B: Auburn University – Auburn, AL
  • Zone C: Purdue University – West Lafayette, IN
  • Zone D: University of Texas – Austin, TX
  • Zone E: Northern Arizona University – Flagstaff, AZ
• Revisit our NCAA selection primer

Virginia senior Kylie Towbin won again, adding a second NCAA diving event to her lineup. Meanwhile Penn State’s Hector Garcia won the men’s event, 3-meter, on day 2.

Towbin and Garcia were both already qualified for NCAAs, but now get second events at nationals. For Towbin, the win gives her an NCAA berth in an event she didn’t compete in last year. Garcia won the B final on 3-meter last year, and should be in line to fight for the A final this season.

There wasn’t much in the way of new qualifiers today, with most of the same names coming back in slightly different order. Rutgers will have a diver at NCAAs with Rachel Byrne taking third on 1-meter today. She didn’t qualify yesterday on 3-meter.

Tomorrow features platform for both men and women, with the final qualifying spots on the line. Only 4 men and 5 women will qualify through platform.

Current Qualifiers

Simplified Qualifying Procedures

Each zone earns a certain number of NCAA qualifying spots based on how that zone has performed at NCAAs in the past. Each of the three diving events will have its own number of qualifiers from each zone.

If a diver is invited in one event, they can compete at NCAAs in any other event where they finish top 12 in their zone.

Reimbursement vs invited slots don’t mean much from a spectator perspective – both can compete at NCAAs. Reimbursement slots earn NCAA reimbursement to cover the athlete’s trip to NCAAs, while invited athletes are eligible to compete, but would have to travel to the meet on the school’s dime.

Here are the qualifying allotments per zone and the reimbursement spots per zone:

QUALIFYING SPOTS PER ZONE

Reimbursement Spots Per Zone