Duke divers Watson, O’Meara impress at Zone B qualifiers, earn spots in NCAA Championship

Two Blue Devil divers punched their tickets to the 2023-24 NCAA Championships this week, flipping their way to success at the Zone B competition in Athens, Ga. Graduate diver Ali Watson earned her place in the championships after finishing second in the preliminary round of platform diving. Her point total of 316.10, followed by a score of 643.30 in the finals, also delivered her a first-place victory in the event overall.

Watson then competed with teammate Margo O’Meara as each battled for a spot in the 3-meter dive. O’Meara’s preliminary score of 329.20 and Watson’s 308.75 sent them to finals in fourth and seventh place, respectively. In finals, O’Meara delivered a strong score of 668.40 to lock down fourth place, while Watson’s 649.80 boosted her to fifth. Both divers qualified for the NCAA Championships.

Margo O’Meara also punched her ticket in the 1-meter dive, finishing third in the event overall with a score of 580.30.

Unlike the swimmers, divers do not qualify for NCAA Championships with season scores. They instead must battle for a limited number of spots at NCAA Zones meets. In each zone — of which there are five — the top four male and female divers in each event automatically earn a spot at NCAA Championships. Each zone also offers an additional number of qualifying spots based on how divers from that zone fared at the previous year’s championship. Duke divers competed in Zone B, which offered 10 spots in the women’s 1-meter dive, eight in the 3-meter and seven in the platform.

Thanks to their performances at the meet, Watson and O’Meara will now return to Athens next week with eleven fellow Blue Devil swimmers to compete in the Women’s NCAA Championships.