The SMU men’s diving team is set to compete at the 2026 NCAA Division I Zone D Diving Championships, which will take place from March 9 to March 11 at the Student Recreation Natatorium in College Station, Texas. The event serves as a qualifying meet for the NCAA Division I Swimming & Diving Championships, scheduled for later in March in Atlanta, Georgia. The top ten finalists in each event at the Zone D meet will secure spots at the national championships.
At the recent ACC Diving Championships, an SMU sophomore became the program’s first individual ACC champion by setting a new school record of 429.75 points on the 1-meter springboard. This athlete is also noted as the first sophomore to win this title since Miami’s Briadam Herrera did so in 2016. The same diver earned a bronze medal on the 3-meter board with a score of 420.60. Additionally, an SMU freshman finished ninth on platform with a score of 315.45.
All members of the SMU men’s diving team have qualified for at least one event at the Zone D Championships. One sophomore has met NCAA standards on both springboard events, while two freshmen have also qualified for both springboards and one has additionally qualified on platform. A senior will participate after achieving a qualifying mark on the 1-meter board.
Reflecting on last season’s debut in the ACC, one Mustang diver advanced to the NCAA Championships and placed third overall on 1-meter with a cumulative final score of 735.90 over twelve dives during preliminaries and finals. Another senior narrowly missed finals qualification by tying for nineteenth place with a score of 259.65 in prelims. As a freshman, Sitz won first place on 3-meter at NCAAs with a total score of 788.80 across twelve dives; teammate Dymond finished nineteenth in prelims with a score of 292.75.
SMU divers also competed at the 2025 USA Diving Winter Nationals, where one athlete set a school record and reached podium finishes: third place on 3-meter (800.55), second place on 1-meter (745.10), and second place in synchronized 3-meter (792.21). Freshman Cates made it to platform finals and placed twelfth overall with a total score of 625.90; he also finished fifth in synchronized platform finals with a mark of 636.84.
The schedule for next week’s competition includes men’s three-meter preliminaries and finals on Monday, one-meter events on Tuesday, and platform events wrapping up Wednesday afternoon.
