June 20, 2016
Scott Lazeroff, who finished third on the platform at this past season's NCAA Championships, will try to earn a spot on the United States Olympic team beginning on Tuesday at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
Lazeroff is one of 22 entrants in the prelims of the men's platform event, which will follow the women's 3-meter prelims that begins at 9 a.m. CT. The top 18 divers in the men's event will advance to the semifinals, which begin at 6 p.m. on Tuesday. The top 12 from the semifinals advance to Sunday's final with a spot in Rio at stake.
Lazeroff is attempting to become Auburn's second-ever U.S. Olympic diver and the first since Caesar Garcia made the 2004 Games in Athens. Jose Rocha represented Mexico in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles.
Live scoring for the diving trials is available at www.divemeets.com. The semifinals and finals will both air live, with NBCSN carrying the semifinals and NBC the finals.
USA Swimming's Olympic Trials begin Sunday, June 26, in Omaha, Neb. Auburn will send 23 current, former and incoming athletes to that event. The men that have qualified for the trials include Zach Apple, Foster Ballard, Colin Bone, Tommy Brewer, Taylor Copeland, David Crossland, Kyle Darmody, Michael Duderstadt, Zane Grothe, Bryan Lee, Bryar Long, Russell Noletto and Grant Schenk. The women qualifiers are Annie Boone, Ashton Ellzey, Erin Falconer, Micah Lawrence, Annie Lazor, Jessica Merritt, Ashley Neidigh, Bailey Nero, Aly Tetzlof and Zoe Thatcher.
Auburn swimming and diving has already had eight current and former athletes qualify for the Olympics. Current swimmers to make their country's Olympic team are Peter Holoda (Hungary), Ziv Kalontarov (Israel) and Luis Martinez (Guatemala). Former swimmers to already make the Olympics are George Bovell (Trinidad & Tobago), Fred Bousquet (France), Marcelo Chierighini (Brazil), Kirsty Coventry (Zimbabwe) and Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace (Bahamas).
The Rio 2016 Olympic Games will be held Aug. 5-21. Olympic Swimming will be contested Aug. 6-13 at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium at Barra Olympic Park. Olympic platform diving prelims are on Aug. 19 with the semifinals and finals on Aug. 20.