Michael Hixon

Michael Hixon

Personal information
Born	(1994-07-16) July 16, 1994[1] Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S.[2]
Height	170 cm (5 ft 7 in)
Sport
Country	United States
Event(s)	3 meter springboard, 3 meter springboard synchro
Partner	Kristian Ipsen
Medal record Competitor for  United States Men's diving Youth Olympic Games Bronze 2010 Singapore 3 m springboard FINA World Junior Diving Championships Silver 2010 Tucson 3 meter synchro

Michael Hixon (born July 16, 1994) is a diver who represents the United States in international competition. He competed at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore, winning bronze in the 3 meter springboard event, and is a world junior silver medalist in the synchronized 3 meter springboard alongside partner Kristian Ipsen.

Family and personal life

Hixon was born in Amherst, Massachusetts.^[2] Hixon's parents both coach in American collegiate sports; his mother Mandy Hixon, who is also his personal coach, is the diving coach at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and used to coach at Amherst College and Williams College,^[3] while his father Dave Hixon has been the basketball head coach at Amherst College since 1977,^[4] winning the 2007 NCAA Men's Division III Basketball Tournament.^[5] *and 2011!!

Hixon studies at Amherst Regional High School.^[6] Hixon's mother was also one of the United States' three coaches at the 2010 FINA Junior World Championships.^[7]

Diving

Hixon began diving at age seven,^[2] and started entering competitions two years later.^[3] He began diving at the national level when he was 12 and has won the 1-meter competition at the national championships three years running.^[3] Hixon is a six-time junior U.S. champion,^[8] and won two bronze medals, in the 1 meter and 3 meter events, at the 2009 Junior Pan-American Diving Championships in Calgary.^[3] He 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.^[9] At that event, Hixon finished behind Qiu Bo of China and Oleksandr Bondar of Ukraine,^[9] the same two divers who would go on to win gold and silver at the Youth Olympics.^[6]

Hixon 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,^[10] but only managed a tenth place finish in the 3 meter solo event.^[11]

Hixon has stated that his aim is to qualify for and compete at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.^[3]

2010 Summer Youth Olympics

By finishing third at the Americas-region qualifying event in Mexico, Hixon qualified for the first-ever Youth Olympics in the 3 meter springboard event.

The event 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.^[12] Although he was sixth after his first dive in the final^[13] and fourth heading into his final dive, a poor dive by Italy's Giovanni Tocci allowed Hixon to claim bronze on his final dive,^[12] finishing with a score of 554.65 points.^[14]

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.^[15]

References