Home pool advantage?

A second-place finish at the Big Ten Championships for the IU women's swimming and diving team, its best finish ever, wasn't all the Hoosiers wanted before they head to the NCAA Championships in Austin, Texas, later this month.\nAfter last weekend's conference championship meet, the Hoosiers had five swimmers qualified for the NCAA Championships. But they wanted three more in the form of a relay.\nAnd the Hoosiers got what they wanted over the weekend at the Indiana Open.\nAn automatic qualifying time in the 400-free relay is 3:19.71. At the Open, senior Susan Woessner, junior Anne Williams, sophomore Meghan Medendorp and freshman Erin Smith finished in 3:19.66, qualifying with a time just .05 quicker than they needed. The time also set a new school record, which had previously been set at last year's Big Ten Championships.\nWoessner swam the lead leg of the relay in 50.55, handing it over to Williams, who swam her 100 yards in a personal-best 49.47. Medendorp continued the fast pace with the fastest leg of 49.40, also a career-best in the 100-yard distance. Smith completed the event with a leg of 50.24 to secure the Hoosiers' qualification. Woessner was already qualified for NCAAs in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events, so Williams, Medendorp and Smith are added to the Hoosiers list of NCAA qualifiers.\n"It is huge for us to get the relay in," Medendorp said. "There are going to be so many people there cheering now, and I am really excited for everyone that is going."\nIU coach Dorsey Tierney echoed Medendorp's comments on the importance of the Hoosiers qualifying a relay team.\n"More than anything it gave peace of mind to those four young ladies," Tierney said. "Their time would have won Big Tens; it was a fantastic job by all of them."\nWilliams and Medendorp also swam to personal season-best times in the 50-yard freestyle, with Williams edging Medendorp by .03 with a time of 23.41. Both times are NCAA provisional qualifying times. Williams also posted a provisional qualifying time in the 100-yard free, finishing in 50.98.\nTierney thought Williams' performances were important to boost her confidence heading to NCAAs.\n"Anne gets it done every day; her performance last week was sub-par for her, and she just needed another week," Tierney said. "This is huge for her confidence. She had her best-ever split on the relay and swam great in the 50-free."\nSmith also competed in the 100-yard butterfly, swimming to a career best 54.84, only .32 off an automatic qualifying time. The time also broke the school record of 54.90, which had been the longest-standing Hoosier record, dating back to the 1997 season.\n"I could feel the team chemistry all week and knew we were going to qualify the relay," she said. "I really can't believe that as a freshman I get to go to NCAAs. I really feel lucky and honored that I am going to be there with all of my teammates."\nThe Hoosiers will return to action when they head to the NCAA Championships Mar. 21-23 at Texas' Lee & Joe Jamail Swimming Center.