Salmon hit heights while taking plunge

If there is one thing that diving taught Mike Salmon it's the importance of a big finish.

The Lowville native enjoyed a steady climb to the top throughout his diving career — from a seventh-grader at Lowville Academy to his senior year at Hamilton College. But Salmon saved his best for his final meet, capturing national championships in his last two events.

On March 16, 2006, Salmon won the 1-meter springboard title at the NCAA Division III championships at the University of Minnesota's Aquatic Center in Minneapolis with a 527-point total, then captured the 3-meter event two days later with 511 points. Both were Division III records that still stand, as well as Hamilton College records.

Salmon closed his collegiate career as a seven-time All-American and appeared in Sports Illustrated's Faces in the Crowd in May of 2006. Hamilton honored Salmon with the Jack B. Riffle Award as the outstanding senior male athlete, the first time the award went to a diver. The New England Small College Athletic Conference, meanwhile, named Salmon the Diver of the Year. He finished unbeaten in 16 events his final season.

Salmon, an accomplished gymnast who practiced on a trampoline in his backyard, began attracting notice in the Lowville peewee program. As a seventh-grader, he finished third in the Frontier League and Section 3 Class B. In eighth grade, he won every league meet and set the league diving record. The following year, he broke the league meet record and took eighth at the state meet.

Salmon continued to break records in his remaining years in high school, establishing school and league marks and a Section 3 Class B record as a sophomore, and breaking the league mark and winning the Section 3 title as a junior. He again finished eighth in the states.

Salmon won two silver medals at the Empire State Games in 2000, then a gold medal apiece in 2001 and 2002, preparing the way for his performance at Hamilton College.

As a freshman at Hamilton, Salmon won the NESCAC 1-meter title. The following year, he was named to the All-NESCAC team after winning both springboard titles at the conference meet. He took third at the NCAA meet that season.

During his junior year, he established an NESCAC record in the 2005 conference championships and swept the diving events. He placed second in the national meet in the 1-meter event at Holland, Mich.

Salmon graduated from Hamilton College in 2006, and after performing in a couple of high-dive shows, went to work on Wall Street. He is now in his second year as assistant dean of admissions at Hamilton College. Salmon focuses mostly on international admissions and travels throughout Europe for a 2-to-3-week period each year.

To read about previous selections to the Times' list of The North Country's Greatest Athletes of All Time, log on to www.watertowndailytimes.com