Hoosiers travel to Austin for double dual meet

The IU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will compete against Texas and Michigan at 4:30 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday in Austin, Texas.

“This meet will be one of the highest levels of competition that the team gets prior to Big Tens,” sophomore Steve Schmuhl said. “Michigan and Texas are top-tier teams, but if the team swims up to our potential, it will be a very close race.”

Coming off its first dual meet and two victories against Kentucky and Tennessee, the men’s team will look to Schmuhl and juniors Eric Ress, James Wells and Cody Miller to contribute first-place finishes. Coaches will encourage the freshman to perform to their full abilities and add to the Hoosiers’ depth.

Freshman Tanner Kurz, third-place finisher in the 100 backstroke last weekend, is expected to put points on the board for IU.

“All of our top-end guys swam very well, putting up nationally competitive times,” Ress said, “Our bottom end needs to step up, but that will, without a doubt, come with training and adjusting to the workload for underclassmen.”

For the women’s team, Canadian native and freshman Brooklyn Snodgrass will be a threat to the Wolverines and the Longhorns in the backstroke events.

In the season opener, Snodgrass touched the wall in first place in both the 100 and 200-yard backstroke events.

“We are strong in backstroke yet lack depth,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “If the freshmen develop quickly, we will have the depth we need to be successful at the conference meet.”

Although there is pressure to compete well in the collegiate season, the Hoosiers focus on swimming at the highest level possible and emphasize the importance of cheering each other on while doing so.

“The team is just one big family,” Schmuhl said, “It’s like having 30 brothers and 30 sisters ... We have one of the best team chemistries in the NCAA.”

Junior Lindsay Vrooman was a top scorer for the women’s team last weekend as she placed first in the 1,000-yard freestyle and second in the 500 freestyle. Freshman Taylor O’Brien finished behind Vrooman in both events.

“Our biggest team strength right now is that we a very unified as a team right now,” Vrooman said, “I’ve never been on a team that was this supportive of each other.”

Junior Darian Schmidt and senior Mick Dell’Orco led the men’s diving team in points against Kentucky and Tennessee while the women’s divers failed to produce any top-three finishes.

Looking to Friday’s meet, the IU swimmers and divers hope to compete to their fullest against Texas and Michigan.

“Our head coach Ray always says we swim fast when we’re having fun, so I can guarantee that we’re going to be enjoying this meet a lot more than the other two teams,” Vrooman said.