Hixon and Capobianco Clinch Olympic Quota Spot

Tokyo, Japan- On the second day of the 2021 FINA World Cup, 2016 Olympian Michael Hixon and 2021 NCAA Champion Andrew Capobianco competed in the Men’s Three Meter Synchronized competition.

After qualifying fourth into the finals, the duo switched out their final dive from a front three- and one-half pike to a front four and a half tuck scoring an 83.22 on top of their score from their fourth and best dive, an inward three- and one-half tuck which scored a 84.66. They finished their list with a cumulative score of 414.18, earning fourth place and merely a point and a half out of the bronze medal position.

“Tonight was really special for Mike and I,” said Capobianco, “We haven’t necessarily had all the preparation that we wanted leading into this but we showed a lot of heart and fight, which makes us feel really confident moving forward. It is such an honor to have gotten the call to compete for the Olympic quota spot and I’m just so excited that we did our job. I also want to send a shoutout to everyone back home who stayed up to watch and cheer - love you guys!”

“Mike and Andrew had a fantastic day today,” said Dan Laak, High Performance Director for USA Diving, “Going into the competition we knew that they had the dives and as long as they were able to execute, we had a great shot at qualifying. As always, they were calm under pressure and true professionals. We are extremely proud of their finish today and are looking forward to our final four days of competition.”

The FINA World Cup continues tomorrow with the Women’s Three Meter Individual prelims and semifinals where NCAA Champion Sarah Bacon and Samantha Pickens will compete for the final two Olympic quota spots Team USA is eligible to earn. Also competing tomorrow is Zachary Cooper who will represent USA Diving in the 10 Meter Individual Platform.

All preliminary events will be live streamed on fina.org as well as their YouTube Channel. The finals will be broadcast live on the Olympic Channel.

USA Diving will be covering this event live, so be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.

For additional information on the FINA World Cup, visit fina.org.

For media inquiries, please contact kelly@usadiving.org