Dreesen places 6th in National Diving Championships

MOULTRIE, Georgia (August 13, 2016)– Kevin Dreesen of BYU placed sixth in the 1 meter Springboard finals at the AT&T National Diving Championships Saturday morning.

Dressen posted a final score of 308.80 on the 1 meter board.  He participated in the 3 meter springboard prelims on Tuesday and didn’t score high enough to move on to the semis or finals on that board. The experience on Tuesday propelled him to come back and place seventh in the prelims and then claim sixth during the finals.

“Kevin came back inspired and was more focused in training before his one meter event," BYU diving coach Tyce Routson said, "He made great corrections and adjustments in prelims and then improved his standings in finals to be 6^th in the nation at these USA Championships. I’m proud of how he rebounded from a lower than standard performance on 3 meter. He didn’t let it carry over to his second event and was fierce and composed through both prelims and finals. I am looking forward to improving our performances through this next season.”

Performing in the 10 top in this national event will help Dressen for a chance to qualify for the 2020 Olympics, but he will need to participate and place well in several other events. 

Teammate Matt Denkers from Indiana also participated in the 1 meter Springboard preliminaries and took 17^th overall, achieving a score of 250.60. Although Denkers did not qualify to participate in the finals,  the experience at a National level helps him for the future.

“Matt did well for himself for how much he has been able to dedicate to his training this summer," Rouston said. “We fine tuned some details of his diving and he put together a consistent list. I expect he will continue strongly in this next BYU diving season.”

Dressen and Denkers continue with BYU and swim and dive teams for the 2016-17 season that begins in September.