Michael Hixon

Michael Hixon (born July 16, 1994) is an American diver. He won the silver medal with Sam Dorman in the synchronized 3 meter springboard at the 2016 Rio Olympics.[4] He also won bronze at the 2015 World Championships in the 1 meter springboard.[5]

Michael Hixon
Personal information
Born (1994-07-16) July 16, 1994[1]
Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S.[2]
Height170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Sport
Country United States
Event(s)3 meter springboard, 3 meter springboard synchro
Coached by
  • Mandy Hixon
  • Drew Johansen
[3]
Medal record
Representing  United States
Men's diving
Olympic Games
2016 Rio de Janeiro3 m synchro
World Championships
2015 Kazan1 m springboard
Youth Olympic Games
2010 Singapore3 m springboard
Pan American Games
2019 Lima3 m synchro

Early life

Hixon was born in Amherst, Massachusetts to Mandy and David Hixon. He has an elder brother Matthew.[1] He studied at Amherst Regional High School.[6] In 2013, he enrolled at the University of Texas in Austin, but moved after a year to Indiana University in Bloomington.[7][8]

Hixon's mother is a diving coach at the University of Massachusetts and started coaching Michael Hixon diving when he was aged seven.[2] He started entering competitions two years later.[9] He was also involved in other sports – basketball, football and lacrosse, but chose to concentrate on diving. He decided to forego football in the freshman year in high school, and although he also later made the varsity basketball team, scheduling conflicts meant that he had to abandon basketball.[10]

Diving career

Junior championships
Michael Hixon (left) and Sam Dorman at the 2016 Olympics

Hixon began diving at the national level when he was 12 and has won the 1-meter competition at the national championships three years running.[9] Hixon is a six-time junior U.S. champion,[11] and won two bronze medals, in the 1 meter and 3 meter events, at the 2009 Junior Pan-American Diving Championships in Calgary.[9]

He subsequently paired with Kristian Ipsen to win a silver at the 2010 FINA World Junior Diving Championships in Tucson, Arizona in the 3 meter synchronized springboard event,[12] but only managed a tenth-place finish in the 3 meter solo event.[13]

2010 Summer Youth Olympics

Hixon won in the 3 meter springboard event at a national selection camp and qualified for Youth Olympic trials in Guadalajara, Mexico, where he won a bronze medal and thus secured a spot to represent the United States at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in the 3 meter springboard event.[14]

The event in the first-ever Youth Olympics in Singapore consisted of a 15-man preliminary round and an eight-man final round. After the ten-dive preliminary round, Hixon carried over enough points into the final to begin the final round in third.[15] Although he was sixth after his first dive in the final[16] and fourth heading into his final dive, a poor dive by Italy's Giovanni Tocci allowed Hixon to claim bronze on his final dive,[15] finishing with a score of 554.65 points behind Qiu Bo of China and Oleksandr Bondar of Ukraine.[6][17]

U.S. championships

At the 2011 US National Championships, Hixon captured the senior men 1-meter springboard title at the UCLA's Spieker Aquatics Center in Los Angeles.[18] He also won silver in the 3m synchro with Darian Schmidt at the 2013 AT&T National Diving Championships,[10] and won the 1-meter springboard at the 2016 USA Diving Winter National Championship.[8]

Hixon also won NCAA SWimming and Diving Championships titles on both the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard events in 2014.[10]

World Championships

Hixon qualified for his first senior international competition, the 2013 World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona, with Troy Dumais, and finished fifth in the men's 3-meter synchronized event.[19]

In the 2015 World Aquatics Championships in Kazan, Russia, Hixon won bronze in the men's 1-meter dive.[20]

2016 Summer Olympics

Hixon qualified for and represented the United States in both the 3 metre synchronized and men's individual 3 metre springboard events at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio.[21][22] He teamed up with Sam Dorman on the 3 metre synchro only after team changes in March 2016,[23] but won the U.S. trials in their first competition together in June 2016.[24]

In the men's 3 meter springboard synchro event, Hixon along with his diving partner Sam Dorman was placed second and won the silver medal with a score of 450.21, behind Jack Laugher and Chris Mears of Great Britain (454.32) but in front of the Chinese pair Qin Kai and Cao Yuan (443.70).[25]

In the men's individual 3 metre springboard, he finished 10th, while his former 3 metre synchro partner Kristian Ipsen placed fifth in the same event.[26]

Personal life

Hixon's parents both coach in American collegiate sports. His mother, Mandy Hixon, who is his personal coach, is also the diving coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and formerly coached at Amherst College and Williams College.[9] His mother was one of the United States' three coaches at the 2010 FINA Junior World Championships.[27]

His father, Dave Hixon, has been the basketball head coach at Amherst College, since 1977,[28] winning the 2007 NCAA Men's Division III Basketball Tournament.[29]

References
  1. "Michael Hixon Diving". Team USA.
  2. "Michael Hixon". United States Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  3. Hussey, Andrew (July 24, 2016). "Michael Hixon's Olympic dreams coming true". Indiana Daily Student.
  4. Lancaster, Marc (August 10, 2016). "Rio Olympics 2016: Sam Dorman, Michael Hixon take silver in synchronized diving". Sporting News.
  5. Woods, David (July 28, 2015), "IU diver wins bronze in Swimming World Championships", Indy Star
  6. Jason Remillard (August 23, 2010). "Amherst's Michael Hixon captures bronze medal in diving at Youth Olympic Games". The Republican. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  7. "Two-Time NCAA Champion Michael Hixon Leaving Texas, Intends on Enrolling at Indiana". Swimming World Magazine. July 9, 2014.
  8. "Michael Hixon". IU Hoosiers.
  9. Bill Wells (March 27, 2010). "Amherst teenage diver puts 2016 Summer Games on radar". MassLive.com. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  10. Maloof, Denise (March 29, 2014). "Born to swim". NCAA.com.
  11. USA Diving (February 4, 2010). "Four divers earn the right to compete in Youth Olympic Games qualifier". Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  12. USA Diving (September 2, 2010). "Team USA adds two more medals at FINA World Junior Diving Championships". Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  13. "18th FINA Junior Diving World Championships Results". USA Diving. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  14. USA Diving (March 14, 2010). "Hixon, Lenz headed to Youth Olympic Games after winning bronze at qualifier". Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  15. Pedro Adreg. "YOG Singapore 2010, Day 9: Bo Qiu earns second gold for China, Tom Daley (GBR) finishes ninth". FINA. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  16. Lisa Ramsperger (August 22, 2010). "Bronze for Hixon". United States Olympic Committee. Archived from the original on September 3, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  17. Tan Yo-Hinn (August 23, 2010). "Qiu Bo lights up Toa Payoh". TODAYonline. Archived from the original on August 26, 2010. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  18. Beth Harris, Hixon wins 1-meter title at US diving nationals, Associated Press via Atlanta Journal Constitution, August 12, 2011
  19. Bowker, Paul D. (July 23, 2013). "Amherst's Michael Hixon and partner Troy Dumais finish fifth in synchronized diving at FINA World Aquatics Championships". Masslive.
  20. "Michael Hixon wins bronze on 1-meter at FINA World Championships". Team USA. July 27, 2015.
  21. Lutz, Rachel (June 25, 2016). "Ipsen, Hixon grab springboard spots; Dumais misses making fifth Olympics". NBC Olympics.
  22. Marot, Michael (June 23, 2016). "Amherst native Michael Hixon teams with Samuel Dorman to qualify for Rio in men's 3M synchro". Daily Hampshire Gazette.
  23. Metcalfe, Jeff (June 19, 2016). "Arizonan Sam Dorman leads at Olympic Diving Trials". AZ Central.
  24. Lutz, Rachel (July 11, 2016). "11 must-see diving videos from U.S. Olympic Trials". NBC Olympics.
  25. The Associated Press. "Rio Olympics: USA's Sam Dorman, Mike Hixon win silver in synchornized 3-meter". Newsday.
  26. Almond, Elliott (August 16, 2016). "Olympics: Stanford's Kristian Ipsen fifth in diving". Mercury News.
  27. USA Diving (August 31, 2010). "FINA World Junior Diving Championships set for September 1–6". Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  28. "Staff | Amherst College". Amherst College. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
  29. "Coaching Staff | Amherst College". Amherst College. Retrieved September 9, 2010.
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