IU competes in U.S. Open

Starting today, the women's swimming and diving team will be competing in the U.S. Open in Washington and the Miami Invitational in Ohio. There will be five team members going to the U.S. Open, with the remainder of the team traveling to Ohio. The U.S. Open will not only be more of a international-type competition, but will feature international competitors. \nThe five members traveling to Washington are seniors Brooke Taflinger, Meghan Medendorp and Erin Gorlesky, junior Erin Smith and freshman Leila Vaziri. The U.S. Open is a meet that focuses more on cut times for the Olympics, giving the teammates an opportunity to see where they match up with the rest of the world. Vaziri said she is looking forward to seeing how she fares. \n"In the 200-free and the 100-back which are my best events, I would like to make Olympic trial cuts," Vaziri said. \nThe other half of the team members, which will be heading to Ohio, said they are ready to see some tough competition. Senior Sarah Fiden, an Ohio native, said she's also looking forward to swimming in her home town again.\n"I'm kind of looking forward to going home. I am from Ohio and it was my favorite pool in high school," Fiden said. "I have always swam well there, and I really want to post a good 500 (meter) time this weekend."\nThis Hoosiers will see tough competition from the rest of the field, which includes Marshall, Kenyon, Cincinnati, Carnegie Mellon, Emory, Lewis, John Hopkins and Wheeling Jesuit. They will compete at the Nixon Aquatic center Dec. 5-7. The team is the favorite to win the meet, and if they do, it would follow up their win at the Indiana Invitational two weeks ago, the first three day meet they competed in. \nIU coach Dorsey Tierney feels the team is doing well at this point, and said she is ready for the next stretch of the season.\n"We were pleased with our performance in the late sessions of the invite," Tierney said. "We weren't too happy with our morning sessions, but unless you are 100 percent across the board you are never totally satisfied. It was by far our best meet of the season."\nTierney was especially pleased with the team's training because she considers this to be the most challenging part of the year. She believes this because the team had to travel for Thanksgiving, and the routine is somewhat offset because of the holiday period. \nAfter this weekend the Hoosiers are off from competition for a while to prepare for their training trip in the beginning of January. After the training trip, the team begins the final half of the season which contains the Big Ten Championships. Fiden said she is excited about this season, and she is ready to continue.\n"We are on a roll, and we had some really nice swims at the invite," Fiden said. "It takes a while for any team to come together, and we are definitely getting there."\n-- Contact staff writer Chris Hopper at chopper@indiana.edu.