INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – With one long hug and a few brief words, Troy Dumais asked Kristian Ipsen to carry on the legacy of American diving.
Ipsen smiled, Dumais choked back tears and now the two longtime synchro partners are heading in drastically different directions.
On Saturday, Ipsen and Michael Hixon took the two Olympic spots in men’s 3-meter, while Dumais’ bid to become the first U.S. man to dive in five Olympic Games came to an end.
“It was cool because he just said ‘You’re going to kill it,'” Ipsen said after winning with the event with a score of 1,452.75 points. “It’s pretty awesome. He’s been to four Olympics now, so for him to say that was like passing on the torch. It was a really cool moment.”
Jessica Parratto and Katrina Young enjoyed their day, too, making the U.S. team in women’s 10-meter. Young moved up two places on her final three dives to qualify.