June 21, 2016
Scott Lazeroff will dive for a spot on the USA Olympic Team on Sunday. The Auburn rising sophomore scored a 671.10 on Tuesday and stands in 11th after the platform semifinals at the 2016 USA Diving Team Trials in Indianapolis.
Lazeroff, who finished third at the past season's NCAA Championships, posted a 325.50 during Tuesday's prelims and a 345.60 in the semis to be one of 12 to dive for an Olympic spot.
"Scott was a little more settled down and competitive in the semifinals (than the prelims)," Auburn diving coach Jeff Shaffer said. "He still needs to focus on finishing his dives, specifically his entries, and we will work on that over the next few days to see if we can get back to the 400-point level. Overall I'm real proud of his effort. The experience of diving in the Olympic Trials should really boost his confidence and help him in the future for Auburn and, hopefully, international meets for the U.S. later on."
David Boudia leads the field with a 1007.25, followed by Steele Johnson with 961.80. David Dinsmore is third with a score of 953.90, and they are the only three competitors to have scored over 800 points.
The finals will be contested on Sunday at 5:40 p.m. CT and will air live on NBC.
Lazeroff was one of 19 entrants in the prelims of the men's platform event. The top 18 divers advanced to the semifinals, which was then narrowed to the top 12 with a spot in Rio on the line.
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.
USA Swimming's Olympic Trials begin Sunday, June 26, in Omaha, Neb. Auburn will send 23 current, former and incoming athletes to that event.
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.