Miami Alum Sam Dorman Wins Silver in Diving

Dorman and his partner Michael Hixon captured the Silver in the three-meter platform diving competition earlier this week. Dorman and Hixon were competing in their first Olympics. Their score of 450.21 was 4.21 behind the winners from the United Kingdom. It was Miami’s first Medal in Rio.

Dorman and Hixon entered the final round in third place. They posted their best score, a 98.04 on a difficulty of 3.8 on their final dive to pass Yuan Cao and Kai Qin of China to move up and claim the silver. Jack Laugher and Chris Mears were the gold medalists.

Dorman and Hixon had to overcome 65-degree, rainy weather to earn their medal. There have also been problems with the pool at the Marie Lenk Aquatics Centre. The water turned green in the diving pool. Per the Miami Herald, FINA, the International Governing Body for Swimming issued a statement on what caused the discoloration in the water.

"“The reason for the unusual water color observed during the Rio 2016 diving competitions is that the water tanks ran out of some of the chemicals used in the water treatment process. As a result, the pH level of the water was outside the usual range, causing the discoloration.”The Rio 2016 organizing committee added: “We did an investigation and the causes are a decrease in the alkalinity of the pool. We have treated the pools and the alkalinity levels have already improved. We anticipate the color will return to normal very shortly.”"

The Herald did a great job with their article on Dorman’s win. This was Miami Men’s Diving Coach Randy Abelman’s seventh Olympics with one of his divers competing. It’s the first time that one of his pupils won a medal. Abelman made the 1980 US Olympic Diving team but missed the Moscow Games because of the US Boycott.

The article spoke with Abelman about what it meant to finally see one of his Divers on the medal stand and how the green water and rain worked to Dorman and Hixon’s advantage.

Dorman’s Medal was the first for a hurricane in the Rio Games. Lauryn Williams was the last Hurricane to win a medal. She won a silver in the bobsled in Sochi in 2014 and a gold in the 4×100 relay on the track in London. Williams became just the fifth athlete to win medals in the Summer and Winter Olympics.

Williams was a nine-time All-American at the U. She was inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame in 2015. She announced her retirement from bobsled in February 2015 after competing for half a season following her Silver Medal with partner Alana Myers.

Dorman was an All-American at the U in 2014 and ’15. He won the three-meter NCAA Championship in 2015. Dorman earned the All-America status and Olympic Medal after sitting out the 2012-13 season with shoulder surgery. He smashed the NCAA record for points in 2015 in earning the three-meter title.

Per HurricaneSports.Com. “.Shattered NCAA record in six-dive version of 3-meter, becoming first male diver to ever break 500 points with a score of 529.10.

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Dorman finished second in the 2015 NCAA Championship in the one meter, that also earned him All-America status. Dorman finished second with a score of 457.30. Dorman is one of a handful of UM Alums and Athletes competing in Rio.