Indiana University divers Jessica Parratto and Michael Hixon finished their week at the 2016 U.S. Olympic Diving Trials on a high note at the IU Natatorium on Saturday, with each qualifying for a second event at the Rio Summer Olympics.
In the women’s 10-meter, Parratto won with a score of 1030.05 to earn her spot in the Olympics. In the men’s 3-meter springboard, IU’s Michael Hixon qualified for his second event, placing second overall to earn his spot on Team USA with a total score of 1385.95.
Parratto and Hixon are the fifth and sixth divers in Indiana program history to qualify for two events in one Olympic Games and are the first to do so since Nicole Kriel (Austria) in 1984.
Coming in to the women’s 10-meter final, Parratto held a comfortable, 69.00-point lead. That lead never wavered in the final five dives, as Parratto clinched her spot before even taking her last dive. Also in the 10-meter dive, IU alumna Amy Cozad finished fourth overall with a score of 937.25.
Entering the finals of the 3-meter, Hixon stood securely in second place with a total of 966.15 points, 109.2 points clear of third place. After three solid dives to begin the final, Hixon saw his lead over third place fall to just over 50 points with just two dives left.
Hixon responded in a big way, posting the two best score of the final with his fifth and sixth dives. After scoring a 91.20 in the fifth round, Hixon clinched his individual spot on Team USA with a tremendous final effort, scoring a 95.20.
This past Wednesday, Hixon, Parratto and Cozad became 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).
Parratto and Cozad won the women’s 10-meter synchro to punch their tickets to Rio, while Hixon teamed with Sam Dorman to win the men’s 3-meter synchro.
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 22 divers make the Olympic Games. The Hoosiers have placed a diver on six of the past seven U.S. Olympic teams.
