Michael Hixon
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| Born | July 16, 1994 [1] Amherst, Massachusetts, U.S.[2] |
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| Height | 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Country |  United States |
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| Event(s) | 3 meter springboard, 3 meter springboard synchro | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Partner | Kristian Ipsen | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Medal record
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Michael Hixon (born July 16, 1994) is an American diver. 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.
Contents
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
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- ↑ Beth Harris, Hixon wins 1-meter title at US diving nationals, Associated Press via Atlanta Journal Constitution, August 12, 2011
