Minnesota’s Sarah Bacon Wins Back to Back NCAA Championships in 1-Meter Diving!

Thursday night Minnesota Golden Gophers junior Sarah Bacon won her second consecutive 1-meter NCAA Diving Championships at the NCAA Swiming and Diving Championships in Austin, Texas. Bacon led after the preliminary round of six dives with a total of 346.05. Then in the championship finals she scored a total of 363.20 to claim her second consecutive one-meter NCAA Championship! Her total also broke a 12 year-NCAA record set by Stanford’s Cassidy Krug in 2007. Krug would go on to compete in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Bacon improved nearly twenty points over her 2018 winning score of 343.50.

Bacon will compete Friday in the 3-meter diving competition along with Gopher teammate Kristen Hayden. Bacon took home eighth place in the 3-meter competition in 2018.

Several other Gopher women have had great performances at the NCAA Championships. Mackenzie Paddington took home fifth in the 500 freestyle in a time of 4:35:21 setting a new school record in the process. her teammate Chantal Nack was right behind in fifth place with a time of 4:35:88. Both swimmers took home First Team All-American honors!

Minnesota added a seventh place finish in the 400 medley relay as well earning four more All-American nods.

The NCAA meet continues Friday and Saturday. The Gophers sit in eighth place through two days of competition. You can watch Friday and Saturday’s action on ESPN U and WatchESPN.