Diving Winter Nationals: 14-Year-Old Joshua Hedberg Qualifies for Worlds
Joshua Hedberg booked a spot in next year’s FINA World Championships on Friday at the USA Diving Winter Nationals, the 14-year-old becoming the youngest American male ever to do so.
Hedberg scored 832.10 points to finish second on the 10-meter platform to Zach Cooper on the penultimate night of the competition. That earns Hedberg, a product of the Indiana International School of Diving, a spot at Worlds next year in Fukuoka, Japan. He will be 15 years and four months old then, three months younger than the previous youngest ever American male diver (Thomas Finchum, 2005 Worlds). Hedberg had finished fourth at Olympic Trials earlier this year.
BREAKING: 14 year old Joshua Hedberg qualifies for 2022 FINA World Championships pic.twitter.com/GkXUujAC6B
— USA Diving (@USADiving) December 17, 2021
Cooper took top honors, the University of Miami senior tallying 839.85 points. Carson Tyler of the Indiana University finished third, ahead of 14-year-old Tyler Wills in his first senior competition.
On the women’s side, Hailey Hernandez and Sarah Bacon each earned a second dive at the World Championships by going 1-2 in the women’s 3-meter springboard. Hernandez, who dives for the University of Texas, pulled away on her final dive to score 656.75 points and get the win. Minnesota’s Bacon followed with 649.75 points. Third was Kristen Hayden of Indiana, followed by Stanford’s Carolina Sculti.
Diving Winter nationals warps up Saturday with the men’s 1-meter springboard and women’s platform individual events.
Women’s 3-Meter Springboard
- Hailey Hernandez, TEX, 656.75
- Sarah Bacon, U, 649.75
- Kristen Hayden, JDA, 593.50
- Carolina Sculti, U, 588.70
- Mia Vallee, MIAF, 575.45
- Margo O’Meara, U, 568.60
- Bridget O’Neil, TEX, 533.05
- Anne Fowler, JDA, 518.80
- Emily Pfeiffer, U, 499.20
- Amelia Rinehart, IISD, 498.95
- Abigail Knapton, U, 496.35
- Lily Witte, U, 483.90
- Mackenzie Crawford, U, 483.15
Men’s 10-Meter Platform
- Zach Cooper, MIAF, 839.85
- Joshua Hedberg, IISD, 832.10
- Carson Tyler, JDA, 778.05
- Tyler Wills, RIP, 771.30
- Jordan Rzepka, PUR, 761.80
- Maxwell Flory, MIAF, 727.15,
- Maxwell Weinrich DDC, 671.20
- Lyle Yost, U, 664.35
- Joseph Victor, U, 609.00
- Jacob Siler, U, 600.40
- Kaden Springfield, ACES, 558.00
- Samuel Flory, DDC, 552.75