For Kassidy Cook, the path to Olympic glory is deeply intertwined with her experiences at Stanford. From the moment she set foot on campus, Cook was surrounded by a culture of excellence and support that propelled her to new heights in her diving career.
The two-time Olympian (2016 and 2024) reached a new level Saturday: winning her first Olympic medal, a silver in the 3-meter synchronized diving competition alongside diving partner Sarah Bacon.
"I'm so overwhelmed with emotion and overcome with this feeling," Cook said. "To be able to reach this goal that I've had since I was 3 years old, and this goal that we've had as a senior team for over five years just feels amazing."
In between the 3-year-old Cook and the now-29-year-old Olympic medalist, Stanford entered her life. As she quickly found out, it would never leave. It became a cornerstone in Cook's development, both as an athlete and an individual. Her time at Stanford was not only marked by rigorous training and competition but also by a culture of unwavering support and excellence.
"I think Stanford was a really formative experience for me. I learned a lot there in my diving career," she said. "I went there during my time of the 2016 Olympics and after, and it's always been such a supportive culture. I've gotten plenty of messages from the dean and the head of athletics and a lot of my classmates. Stanford is just a very supportive culture."
For Cook, the pride of being a Stanford Cardinal is something she carries with her wherever she goes —especially in the Olympic village, as more than 50 other Stanford student-athletes qualified for the Paris Games.
"Where you go to college, it carries on with you. I'll always be a Stanford Cardinal. I have so much pride when I say that I went to Stanford. I know that they're always going to have my back," she said. "To be able to walk around the village and see some familiar faces is pretty awesome."
Cook (right) and Bacon won a silver medal in the 3-meter synchronized diving competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics. (Photo by Sarah Stier / Getty Images)
During her time at Stanford, Cook was a member of two NCAA championship-winning teams and was a five-time individual All-American, finishing as high as second in the 1-meter dive in 2015.
Also at Stanford, Cook had the privilege of being surrounded by some of the greatest athletes in the world. Teammates like swimming greats Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel were not just peers but sources of inspiration that pushed her to excel.
"To be surrounded with such greatness on that swimming and diving team I think really pushed me to be a better athlete. Katie Ledecky is a freak of an athlete, one of the best to ever do it, and Simone Manuel as well," Cook said. "I think just having those girls as teammates and peers and friends just pushed me to be a better athlete and a better student, too."
Being part of Stanford's storied athletic history is a source of immense pride for Cook. Her Paris medal made her the first women's diving medalist with Stanford ties since 1936, when Marjorie Gestring Bowman claimed gold in the 3-meter springboard in Berlin. Bowman was just 13 at the time but went on to be part of Stanford's class of 1945.
"Stanford has such a legacy when it comes to athletics and the Olympics itself," Cook said. "So to be a small part of that legacy means everything in the world to me. It's unreal. I've always carried pride in my heart being a Stanford Cardinal."
