Hamilton College diver Mike Salmon '06 won the 1-meter springboard competition at the NCAA Division III Championships held at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis on March 16.
Salmon is the first diver to win a national title in the history of the Hamilton men's program. He finished with a score of 526.80 points in the finals. Salmon has earned six All-America awards in his four-year collegiate career.
Salmon and runner-up Mike Shaw from Springfield College were the only divers that eclipsed the 500-point mark in the finals. The defending champion Shaw ended up with 507.55 points in the evening's finals. Salmon (509.05) edged Shaw (502.45) by less than seven points during the afternoon's preliminary dives to earn the top seed for the finals.
Salmon's performance in the finals was just short of his 1-meter school record score of 528.40 points set at the 2005 New England Small College Athletic Conference Championships. He is the second Hamilton diver to win the 1-meter at the NCAA Championships in four years. Cady Kashner '03 won the event in 2003.
Salmon will go for his seventh All-America honor and perhaps another national title in the 3-meter competition on Saturday, March 18. The 20 points he earned for winning the 1-meter puts the Continentals in 18th place in the team standings.
Todd Johnson '08 posted a personal-best time of 22.36 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle on Thursday. Johnson swims in the 100-yard backstroke on Friday, March 17. Prelims start at 11 a.m. and finals get underway at 6:30 p.m. CST.
