Andrew Capobianco, Michael Hixon and Jessica Parratto earned spots on Team USA for the FINA World Cup in China based on their performances at the USA Diving Senior National Championships held at SMU.
Capobianco, a freshman, is no stranger to Team USA. He has participated in multiple junior diving competitions in the one-meter and three-meter springboard, as well as platform diving. He won gold on the three-meter springboard at the event with a score of 446.90 points.
Capobianco finished eighth in the same event earlier this year at the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving NCAA Division I Championship with a score of 381.60.
Hixon, now a professional diver after graduating from IU this spring, won silver behind Capobianco in the three-meter springboard with a score of 444.55 points. Hixon is also familiar with Team USA. He won silver in the synchronized three-meter springboard at the Olympics in 2016 and placed 10th in the individual three-meter springboard.
Hixon won the one-meter and placed third in the three-meter springboard event at the NCAA finals with a score of 464.40 and 481.90 earlier this year.
By finishing in the top two, both earned spots on the Team USA three-meter team for the World Cup. Hixon also qualified for the synchronized men’s three-meter with his long-time diving partner Sam Dorman.
Parratto, a junior, also represented the U.S. at the Olympics in 2016. She placed 10th and seventh in the 10-meter individual and synchronized springboard, respectively.
She won the synchronized platform diving national title at the event this past weekend with her partner Tarrin Gilliland with a score of 299.94, which earned Parratto a spot on the team.
Parratto won the Big Ten Championship in platform diving this year with a score of 378.15.
These three athletes with represent Team USA at the FINA World Cup from June 5-10 in Wuhan, China.
Declan McLaughlin
