Indiana’s Michael Hixon and Andrew Capobianco won the silver medal in the 3-meter synchronized springboard diving at the Tokyo Olympics Wednesday.
The duo sat in fifth place after the first two rounds, but moved into second in the third round and did not falter. They scored in the 80s in each of the final four rounds to finish with 444.36 points.
“The four dives we do, we knew we were going to do those dives two years ahead of time, and he’s incredible at those four optionals that we did,” Hixon said.
China’s Zongyuan Wang and Siyi Xie took the gold with 467.82. Germany’s Patrick Hausding and Lars Rudiger won bronze with 404.73.
It’s the second 3-meter synchronized springboard silver medal for Hixon, a 2018 IU graduate. He teamed with Sam Dorman to finish second in the 2016 Olympics in Rio. After Dorman retired, Hixon paired up with his fellow Hoosier.
“It feels incredible I’m so proud of (Capobianco), the way we performed as a team, the way we came together,” Hixon said. “I couldn’t be happier right now”
Capobianco is heading into his senior year at Indiana. He won the NCAA 3-meter springboard titles in 2019 and 2021.
Read: IU Swimming And Diving Well-Represented At Tokyo Olympics
The two Hoosiers have had success since teaming up. They won the 2018 and 2019 national championships, and won the Olympic trials by more than 100 points.
“I think a lot of it was having someone to look up to and chase in practice a little bit,” Capobianco said. “It was just great to have the best diver in the country in your pool to look up to and learn from. He’s taught me so much about competing and becoming a world-class diver, and I’m just so thankful.”
Capobianco will compete in the individual 3-meter springboard competition Monday.
“This definitely gives me a little more confidence heading into the individual competition,” he said. “I’m happy that the judges got to see a little bit more of me and I’m going to take it one step at a time. It definitely takes some of the nerves off but at the same time I do have expectations for individuals as well.”
The medals were the fifth and sixth of the Games for former or current IU athletes. Zach Apple and Blake Pieroni won gold in the 400-meter freestyle relay, Jessica Parratto won silver in the synchronized platform diving and Lilly King took bronze in the 100-meter breaststroke.
More than a dozen IU athletes representing six countries are competing in the Summer Games.
