University of Massachusets Athletics
Mandy Hixon Reflects as Son Represents Team USA in Rio
August 09, 2016 | Men's Swimming & Diving, Women's Swimming & Diving
For mother and son, diving has provided a unique family bond.
Mandy Hixon is probably best known as one of the top diving coaches in the Atlantic 10. Throughout her career as the head coach of UMass men's and women's diving, she has produced all-conference performers, numerous divers of the year and the first All-American in the aquatics program's history.
But for the next week, she'll be putting the coaching hat away to sit in the stands instead of the deck to cheer on her son Michael as he performs for Team USA in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
It's a story that really started 32 years ago, took root in the Joseph R. Rogers pool and jumped on the expressway to the Olympic games.
For the Mandy the mother, it's been an amazing experience that has kept her close to her son during her career as a coach, allowed the pair to share a passion in life, and stood as a testament to the types of people involved with UMass diving.
It's no surprise that Hixon, who served as Michael's coach since age 13 until college, has mentored an Olympian who came from her own lineage.
She's been named the Atlantic 10 Diving Coach of the Year so many times on both the men's and women's side that when she retires, the league should name the award after her just for the sake of consistency.
She has turned student-athletes will little-to-no diving history into some of the best in the Atlantic 10 and, in the case of Michaela Butler who had never competitively dove before college, into one of the best in the country as a three-time All-American.
As she talks about sharing the experience of diving with her son, Hixon lights up when talking about the Olympic trials. As an accomplished competitive diver herself at the collegiate and national level, Hixon narrowly missed out on the Olympics with a sixth-place finish in 1984.
"That was the last place I dove 32 years ago and it was also for the trials," said Hixon as the rush of memories comes back. "It was crazy; I had been in the IU Natatorium prior to Michael competing in the Olympic trials, but to see it set up very similarly with all the Olympic banners, brought back all of my memories. All of a sudden I could picture little Mandy Glenner standing up on the 10-meter platform and I could remember seeing my name on the huge scoreboard there. It was really cool and neat to have all those emotions and memories come back. "
As the trials competition ran its course, Michael's performance earned him a spot in both the three-meter men's synchronized event and as an individual for the three-meter dive.
"To be honest, it's one of those things that you think will never happen. So it's incredible, it's unbelievable," said Hixon. "I knew that he worked hard and that he was in a good place to make the Olympic team. I knew he could do it, but to see him do it and stand on the podium being announced as an Olympian was pretty amazing."
Though Michael became serious about competitive diving relatively late compared to others, Mandy was there to help guide his path.
"When I was walking over to the pool prior to him diving in the synchronized finals, I kept having all these memories of when he was younger. And I just thought to myself how hard he has worked and how much time he has put into the sport," said Hixon.
But the serious nature of his competition really began with the son being around his mom while she was at work.
"He started hanging from the three-meter board by his feet when he was four," laughs Hixon as she sits just 20 feet away from the diving boards in Rogers pool. "I started an age-group program when he was 13 which Jason Cook was also a member of."
Those impressionable years in Michael's life were spent around the divers at UMass both at Rogers pool and on the road.
"He spent a lot of time around the kids in the program, and there were certainly some kids who really made an impression on him. Adam Duffield was just a great role model for Michael in those years. RJ Rappe, who was before Adam would always come over and play with the boys; he just loved our whole family. And there were others as well. They weren't all necessarily diving role models, but role models as people. And they were all just really good to him which I thought was awesome," said Hixon.
With Mandy coaching the UMass divers and her husband Dave coaching the men's basketball team at Amherst College, both Michael and his brother Matthew got the unique gift of spending time around their parents while on the road.
"If my husband and I were both gone the same weekend, usually Michael would travel with me and Matthew would go with Dave. Michael would go to the Atlantic 10 Championships and kind of serve as the mascot. UMass has been a huge part of his life and I think it definitely molded him," said Hixon.
Hixon is known as a caring, but no non-sense type of coach. She is clinical, but also knows how to relate to each athlete as an individual. The bulk of her athletes, however, aren't raised by her from birth. The challenge she says of being Michael's mother and coach were there from the beginning.
"It's an awesome thing to be able to share the sport with one of your children," said Hixon "On the other hand, it's probably one of the hardest things in the world to have to coach your own child. That was hard for me at times to be a mother and a coach. I couldn't be the one doing it; he had to say, come on, let's go back to the pool. I think that would frustrate him at times. That's one of the hard dynamics of being a good parent of a good athlete – you can't want it more than they do. Through it all, Michael always showed that he truly wanted to be great."
That experience, though certainly rough at times, brought mother and son closer over the years.
"We talk every day or every other day on the phone, though not as much since he's been at the Olympics," said Hixon. "We don't really talk about diving that much, but more about life and what's going on with each other."
After the trials, the pair have been a bit separated with Michael being away for pre-Olympic training and then travel to Rio. He was able to walk in the opening ceremonies of the games as a member of one the United States' best Olympic contingents.
Mandy is set to arrive in Rio to see his first competition which will be the three-meter synchronized dive on Wednesday. Though they will both be there and she'll be able to see him briefly at the pool, it probably will not be until after he's done competing that they will have a day together.
"We'll probably end up with very different takes and experiences from the Olympics which will be neat to talk about. We might have a day to do something after his competitions before we come back," said Hixon.
When asked about whether she was more nervous 32 years ago as she aimed for a spot on the Olympic team or for Michael during his trials competition, Hixon without hesitation says it was for her son.
"It was so much easier when you are in control of the situation," she said. "As a mother, you just want your child to be safe and happy. I was way more nervous for him and will continue to be. I know he had some nerves, but no more than any other meet."
As the conversation wraps up, Hixon looks around Rogers pool one more time after finishing the day's practice. Her eyes fix on the two one-meter boards and the three-meter board in the middle.
"I just think it's such a cool thing that he started here," she said. "While this is our home, it's certainly not an elite level facility that most Olympic athletes begin their careers at. Most of these athletes spend their entire careers at top-level facilities and, especially, weren't coached by their mom. There are other Olympians who had their mothers coach them, but really for a limited amount of time – not all the way until they went to college. So it's an unusual story in that sense, but I'm so proud of all that he's been able to accomplish and that this place was the start of his journey."
And so, for the next week, Michael the son will perform against some of the best divers in the world, while Mandy the mom cheers on from the stands. No matter what happens, one thing is for sure – the memories of the experience for both will last a lifetime.
But for the next week, she'll be putting the coaching hat away to sit in the stands instead of the deck to cheer on her son Michael as he performs for Team USA in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
It's a story that really started 32 years ago, took root in the Joseph R. Rogers pool and jumped on the expressway to the Olympic games.
For the Mandy the mother, it's been an amazing experience that has kept her close to her son during her career as a coach, allowed the pair to share a passion in life, and stood as a testament to the types of people involved with UMass diving.
It's no surprise that Hixon, who served as Michael's coach since age 13 until college, has mentored an Olympian who came from her own lineage.
She's been named the Atlantic 10 Diving Coach of the Year so many times on both the men's and women's side that when she retires, the league should name the award after her just for the sake of consistency.
She has turned student-athletes will little-to-no diving history into some of the best in the Atlantic 10 and, in the case of Michaela Butler who had never competitively dove before college, into one of the best in the country as a three-time All-American.
As she talks about sharing the experience of diving with her son, Hixon lights up when talking about the Olympic trials. As an accomplished competitive diver herself at the collegiate and national level, Hixon narrowly missed out on the Olympics with a sixth-place finish in 1984.
"That was the last place I dove 32 years ago and it was also for the trials," said Hixon as the rush of memories comes back. "It was crazy; I had been in the IU Natatorium prior to Michael competing in the Olympic trials, but to see it set up very similarly with all the Olympic banners, brought back all of my memories. All of a sudden I could picture little Mandy Glenner standing up on the 10-meter platform and I could remember seeing my name on the huge scoreboard there. It was really cool and neat to have all those emotions and memories come back. "
As the trials competition ran its course, Michael's performance earned him a spot in both the three-meter men's synchronized event and as an individual for the three-meter dive.
"To be honest, it's one of those things that you think will never happen. So it's incredible, it's unbelievable," said Hixon. "I knew that he worked hard and that he was in a good place to make the Olympic team. I knew he could do it, but to see him do it and stand on the podium being announced as an Olympian was pretty amazing."
Though Michael became serious about competitive diving relatively late compared to others, Mandy was there to help guide his path.
"When I was walking over to the pool prior to him diving in the synchronized finals, I kept having all these memories of when he was younger. And I just thought to myself how hard he has worked and how much time he has put into the sport," said Hixon.
But the serious nature of his competition really began with the son being around his mom while she was at work.
"He started hanging from the three-meter board by his feet when he was four," laughs Hixon as she sits just 20 feet away from the diving boards in Rogers pool. "I started an age-group program when he was 13 which Jason Cook was also a member of."
Those impressionable years in Michael's life were spent around the divers at UMass both at Rogers pool and on the road.
"He spent a lot of time around the kids in the program, and there were certainly some kids who really made an impression on him. Adam Duffield was just a great role model for Michael in those years. RJ Rappe, who was before Adam would always come over and play with the boys; he just loved our whole family. And there were others as well. They weren't all necessarily diving role models, but role models as people. And they were all just really good to him which I thought was awesome," said Hixon.
With Mandy coaching the UMass divers and her husband Dave coaching the men's basketball team at Amherst College, both Michael and his brother Matthew got the unique gift of spending time around their parents while on the road.
"If my husband and I were both gone the same weekend, usually Michael would travel with me and Matthew would go with Dave. Michael would go to the Atlantic 10 Championships and kind of serve as the mascot. UMass has been a huge part of his life and I think it definitely molded him," said Hixon.
Hixon is known as a caring, but no non-sense type of coach. She is clinical, but also knows how to relate to each athlete as an individual. The bulk of her athletes, however, aren't raised by her from birth. The challenge she says of being Michael's mother and coach were there from the beginning.
"It's an awesome thing to be able to share the sport with one of your children," said Hixon "On the other hand, it's probably one of the hardest things in the world to have to coach your own child. That was hard for me at times to be a mother and a coach. I couldn't be the one doing it; he had to say, come on, let's go back to the pool. I think that would frustrate him at times. That's one of the hard dynamics of being a good parent of a good athlete – you can't want it more than they do. Through it all, Michael always showed that he truly wanted to be great."
That experience, though certainly rough at times, brought mother and son closer over the years.
"We talk every day or every other day on the phone, though not as much since he's been at the Olympics," said Hixon. "We don't really talk about diving that much, but more about life and what's going on with each other."
After the trials, the pair have been a bit separated with Michael being away for pre-Olympic training and then travel to Rio. He was able to walk in the opening ceremonies of the games as a member of one the United States' best Olympic contingents.
Mandy is set to arrive in Rio to see his first competition which will be the three-meter synchronized dive on Wednesday. Though they will both be there and she'll be able to see him briefly at the pool, it probably will not be until after he's done competing that they will have a day together.
"We'll probably end up with very different takes and experiences from the Olympics which will be neat to talk about. We might have a day to do something after his competitions before we come back," said Hixon.
When asked about whether she was more nervous 32 years ago as she aimed for a spot on the Olympic team or for Michael during his trials competition, Hixon without hesitation says it was for her son.
"It was so much easier when you are in control of the situation," she said. "As a mother, you just want your child to be safe and happy. I was way more nervous for him and will continue to be. I know he had some nerves, but no more than any other meet."
As the conversation wraps up, Hixon looks around Rogers pool one more time after finishing the day's practice. Her eyes fix on the two one-meter boards and the three-meter board in the middle.
"I just think it's such a cool thing that he started here," she said. "While this is our home, it's certainly not an elite level facility that most Olympic athletes begin their careers at. Most of these athletes spend their entire careers at top-level facilities and, especially, weren't coached by their mom. There are other Olympians who had their mothers coach them, but really for a limited amount of time – not all the way until they went to college. So it's an unusual story in that sense, but I'm so proud of all that he's been able to accomplish and that this place was the start of his journey."
And so, for the next week, Michael the son will perform against some of the best divers in the world, while Mandy the mom cheers on from the stands. No matter what happens, one thing is for sure – the memories of the experience for both will last a lifetime.
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