It was a historic night for the Indiana University diving program on Wednesday at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis, as three Hoosier divers earned spots on Team USA for the 2016 Rio Summer Olympic Games.
In the women’s 10-meter synchro, current Hoosier diver Jessica Parratto and IU alumna Amy Cozad dominated, winning with a score of 935.76 to earn their trip to the 2016 Rio Olympics. In the men’s 3-meter synchro, IU diver Michael Hixon and Miami (FL)’s Sam Dorman won to earn their spots on Team USA, scoring an impressive total of 1308.36.
“Three Hoosier divers making the Olympic team – it doesn’t get much better than that,” Indiana head diving coach Drew Johansen said. “I couldn’t be more proud of the whole team. Jessica and Amy were fantastic. That was the best they’ve done since they’ve been here as a team. Michael was just trying to harness all that emotion and really did a great job. I just couldn’t be happier.”
Hixon, Parratto and Cozad become the fifth, sixth and seventh IU swimmer or diver to qualify for this summer's Olympics, joining swimmers Kennedy Goss (Canada), Ali Khalafalla (Egypt), Anze Tavcar (Slovenia) and incoming-transfer Marwan Elkamash (Egypt).
With Hixon, Parratto and Cozad qualifying for Rio, Indiana has now had 77 different swimmers or divers qualify for the Olympics. Those 77 athletes have appeared in a total of 107 Olympic Games. In total, the IU diving program has now had 23 divers make the Olympic Games. The Hoosiers have placed a diver on six of the past seven U.S. Olympic teams.
Entering finals on Wednesday night, Parratto and Cozad held a 41.28-point lead over the seven-team field. After two rounds of dives, the lead sat at 40.68 points. In third and fourth rounds, Parratto and Cozad doubled their lead with a pair of tremendous dives that scored 73.80 and 77.76, respectively.
Leading by 81.84 points headed in to the fifth and final round, Parratto and Cozad scored a 69.12 to put a bow on their outstanding performance and clinch their spots on Team USA.
In the men’s 3-meter synchro, the team of Hixon and Dorman never wavered in their final six dives. Entering the night, the duo held a lead of 56.52. Over the competition, the advantage never got closer than 54.51 points over the team of London Olympic bronze medalists Troy Dumais and Kristian Ipsen.
After two great dives to start, Hixon and Dorman reeled off dives scoring 82.62, 91.35 and 82.62 to maintain their lead. On the sixth and final dive, Hixon and Dorman totaled a 75.64 to seal the victory and push their winning score to 1308.36. Dumais and Ipsen finished second with a total of 1260.39.
With the qualifying of the Hoosier trio, the Indiana program will have seen 16 divers appear in 21 Olympics for Team USA. Entering Rio, the 13 previous divers have combined to win seven medals – three gold and four bronze.
All three divers – Hixon, Parratto and Cozad – will look to make Team USA as individuals on Saturday in Indianapolis. Hixon is second entering the finals of the men’s 3-meter springboard, while Jessica Parratto leads the women’s 10-meter. Cozad enters Saturday’s final third, just 0.15 points out of second place and a spot on Team USA.
To earn a spot on Team USA in an individual event and punch a ticket to the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, the Hoosier divers will have to place first or second overall.
The finals of the men's 3-meter springboard and women's 10-meter at the U.S. Olympic Diving Trials will be on Saturday at the IU Natatorium. The men's 3-meter final is scheduled for 4:30 p.m., while the women's 10-meter final is slated to begin at 8:00 p.m.
Coverage of both finals will air live on NBC and online with NBC Sports Live Extra on Saturday.
