Team “Cook ‘N Bacon” Win America’s First Medal

Kassidy Cook and Sarah Bacon teamed up in Paris (“Team Cook ‘N Bacon”) in synchronized diving to win America’s first medal of the 2024 Olympic Games. It was only the second time that US women had ever won a medal in the event.

Synchronized Diving: Even Harder Than It Looks

Synchronized Diving became an Olympic event in 2000. It requires two divers to execute the same dive on two parallel boards—and the best divers do this flawlessly.

Judges evaluate the following five parts of a dive to determine an overall score:

1. Approach: Three or more steps forward to the end of the board before the hurdle and takeoff. Should be smooth but forceful, showing good form.

2. Takeoff: A diver’s lift from the board prior to execution of the dive. Must show control and balance, plus the proper angle of landing and leaving for the particular dive being attempted.

3. Elevation: The amount of spring or lift a diver receives from the takeoff greatly affects the appearance of the dive. Since more height means more time, a higher dive generally affords greater accuracy and smoothness of movement.

4. Execution: The dive itself. Form: A judge watches for proper mechanical performance, technique, form, and grace.

5. Entry: The entry into the water is significant because it’s the last thing the judge sees. Judges favor a graceful, vertical entry along with a minimal amount of splash.

Watch Kassidy and Sarah demonstrate world-class form below at the US Olympic Trials below to clinch a spot to Paris.

The Long Road To Paris

I interviewed Kassidy for this story. Her mother took her to the pool to begin diving at 5. She insists that she took to it right away—no parental coercion was needed. She is the youngest of five sisters and one brother, and she and her siblings would spend a lot of time at the pool together. One sister (Kara) would eventually dive for Purdue University.

By the time Kassidy was twelve in 2007 she was winning national age-group diving competitions in both 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events. She was on top of the world, but there was rough water ahead.

Kassidy Meet Sarah

Kassidy and Sarah began competing against each other about this time. They were competitors before they became partners. Do the math: Kassidy and Sarah who are not yet 30 years old have been diving together in one way or another for almost 20 years.

2012: Disappointment and Injury

At the age of 17, Cook and her synchro partner at that time, Kristina Loukas, placed second at the 2012 Olympic trials – a mere .42 points behind qualifying duo Abby Johnston and Kelci Bryant. Just as the London Olympics began, Cook tore her labrum and underwent major reconstructive surgery on her shoulder. She was told she might never dive again.

“I actually remember watching the opening ceremonies for the 2012 Olympics from my hospital bed,” she said later. For three years after that , Cook would work tirelessly to make the 2016 Olympic diving trials, eventually leaving Stanford where she had enrolled in 2013 on a diving scholarship to move home to Texas and train full time.

The Bionic Woman

One year after Cook tore her Labrum in 2012 her shoulder was still not healed and she underwent surgery again. She was left with eight metal anchors in her arm, which she calls her “bionic shoulder.” A year later, at the age of 19, Cook went in for a third surgery for a torn meniscus on her right knee.

Rio 2016

Cook would overcome all these setbacks competing solo in the 3-meter springboard at the US Trials in 2016 and finishing first, followed by friend and teammate Abby Johnston in second. She had achieved her goal. In Rio Cook would finish 13^th. Just making the Olympic team had been a huge achievement. Cook took it all in and enjoyed the moment. But she decided she was not done.

Team Cook’N Bacon

Cook and Bacon would reunite in 2019 as partners (versus competitors) to train for the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2020. But the injury issue would raise its ugly head yet again.

The way diving works versus other events is that divers have to earn Olympic trials spots for their country in international competition first. They have to earn so many points just for their country to reserve an Olympic slot to compete. Cook and Bacon had to score so many points in international competition just to secure spots for Team USA. They would do this at the World Championships in Tokyo just one month before the US Trials were held.

Tokyo was May 1 and Cook had been battling shoulder pain again since February. Before the Tokyo competition, Cook’s shoulder hurt so badly that she couldn’t practice anything except the timing on their approaches.

“I would count us down, ‘1-2-3- Go!’ and I would just bounce on the board and jump into the water and Sarah would do the dives that we were supposed to do,” Cook said. “I’m sure other countries were watching like, ‘What the heck is going on?’ I was just saving it all for the competition, which was very painful to get through, but I’m really happy that I could pull through for my country and pull through for Sarah.”

Cook and Bacon would finish second in the synchro event at the US Trials, with Cook again gutting it out with chronic shoulder pain. Alison Gibson and Krysta Palmer took first and went to Tokyo. Cook (and Bacon) essentially paid a painful price to secure an Olympic spot for someone else (Gibson and Palmer) to go to the Games.

2024 Olympic Trials

This time Cook and Bacon would flip the script. it was Gibson and Palmer finishing second and Cook and Bacon first. Sarah was actually planning to retire after 2020 but as she would say the events that year lit a fire inside her to try with her partner one more time.

They had done it. They were going to Paris. Both women had to overcome injuries, funding issues (there is no professional money in diving), Covid, etc., Cook by this time had not only torn her labrum three times, she had stress fractures and bulging discs in her back and she had had screws put in her foot due to a trampoline injury. But they were going to Paris!

The Main Event

Cook and Bacon were scheduled to dive the day after the opening ceremonies. These two veterans who had worked to hard to enjoy this moment chose to skip the opening ceremonies floating with Team USA down the Seine river. It was a hard decision but they knew from experience those activities would take a toll on their bodies: miles of walking, crowds, weather, etc.,

Instead the women dressed up in their uniforms and took pictures with other athletes in the Olympic Village. They were in their dorm rooms by 8pm resting their legs with lights out by 9pm! Their roommates were careful later to return to the room quietly and both women got a good night’s sleep waking at approximately 6am. They got dressed, ate breakfast and were at the pool by 7:30 am for their big day.

That day everything would come together and the pair were nearly flawless in their five dives. China would take the gold medal continuing their unprecedented run for two decades, but Cook and Bacon would finish strong right behind them grabbing a silver medal and America’s first medal of the 2024 Games.

A “We” (Versus “Me”) Journey

After their event Cook and Bacon were interviewed and both women in different ways made a point to acknowledge how much of their success was a product of strong family support.

Speaking with NBC reporters Cook did not hesitate to give thanks to family first: “They always say it takes a village and it’s a cliché, but it’s very true. I’ve made a lot of personal sacrifices, but my family has as well, so this medal is every bit of theirs as it is mine. I grew up with five siblings, and they are all just so supportive of me no matter where they are in life. They made the trip out here. Most of my sisters are married and have kids under three years old and they still made the trip out here, so their support truly means everything.

And Bacon would chime in: “I also grew up with three brothers, so they were all able to come out here. My little nephew was able to come, all my brother’s wives, my mom, my dad, my boyfriend. So just having them here being able to share this moment with me, I could not be happier that they were able to make the trip out here and cheer for me.