Duke Divers Set for 2012 USA Diving Winter Nationals

DURHAM, N.C. - Four Blue Devils will head to Knoxville, Tenn., on Thursday, Dec. 15 to open competition at the 2012 USA Diving Winter National Diving Championships. The event runs through Dec. 22 at the University of Tennessee's Allan Jones Aquatic Complex, and will serve as selection trials for the 2012 FINA World Cup and the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials.

Redshirt junior Shawn Hoffman will participate in the preliminaries of the men's 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events, which begin on Thursday, Dec. 15. Hoffman will be joined by senior Jessica Lyden, who will also compete on the 1-meter and 3-meter boards in the women's preliminaries.

Those divers who advance out of Thursday and Friday's preliminary rounds will earn spots in the quarterfinals, which get underway on Saturday, Dec. 17.

Abby Johnston has already prequalified for the quarterfinals of the women's 3-meter and synchronized 3-meter events, while Nick McCrory also prequalified on the platform, as well as in the men's synchronized 3-meter and synchronized platform events.

The field of 125 divers will be competing for 10 national titles during the seven-day competition, as well as the chance to represent the U.S. at the 2012 FINA World Cup and the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials.

A complete schedule of events can be found on USA Diving's website: www.usadiving.org. Results will be available on usadiving.org and divemeets.com.

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