Meet the Freshmen: Shelby Hixon
11/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Swimming & Diving
Nov. 18, 2008
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. - Freshman Shelby Hixon's dream of being a college athlete has finally come true as a new member of the Crimson Tide team.
"All my life I've known that I wanted to swim in college," Hixon said. "And Alabama happens to be the perfect school for me as an athlete and a student."
Hixon, a native of Woodstock, Ga., joins the Crimson Tide as a two-time USA Swimming Scholastic All-American. She swam for Tracye Bulger at Etowah High School and for Ian Goss at Stingrays Swimming. During her high school career she was a three-time Etowah MVP, seven-time Georgia All-Star and captain of the Etowah High School team. Hixon led her school to undefeated seasons in 2007 and 2008.
Ian Goss, Hixon's club coach knew the coaching staff at Alabama, which helped Hixon in her college search. It also might explain why Hixon enjoys the coaching style at Alabama.
"The coaching staff here is very similar to my club team," Hixon said. "the test sets we do here are a lot harder, I really like it."
Surprisingly the practices at Alabama have not been a hard transition from high school for Hixon.
"I've always tried hard at practice and trying here is not much of a change," Hixon said. "The practices really haven't been too bad."
Hixon is one of two freshmen on the Crimson Tide from the Stingrays Swimming club. Ryan Dugan also swam for Goss.
"Ryan and I have known each other for a really long time, so we're pretty much like brother and sister," Hixon said. "He makes a good traveling buddy too."
Hixon is not the first college athlete in her family to attend Alabama. Her grandfather played football at UA before Paul "Bear" Bryant coached the Tide. Her father, Stuart Hixon, played football and wrestled at The Air Force Academy.
A pre-med major, Hixon eventually wants to attend dental school to become a dentist.
"I used to think that I wanted to go to medical school to become a surgeon, but now I want to switch to dentistry," Hixon said. "I would like to go to dental school to become a dentist or orthodontist."
In her free time Hixon likes to paint and play the saxophone.
Players Mentioned
