Hoosier swimmers and divers win first Big Ten title since 2003

The IU women's swimming and diving team watched a year ago as the men's squad won the Big Ten championships in Bloomington. \n"After the meet, the next day, a group of girls came into my office," swimming coach Ray Looze said. "They said to me, 'That's what we want to do next year, that's the kind of fun we want to have.'"\nA year later it is all fun and smiles around the IU women's swimming and diving program. \nThe Hoosiers claimed their first Big Ten title since 2003 this weekend at University Aquatic Center in Minneapolis. IU earned a three-day score of 715.5. Michigan finished second with 562 and Penn State placed third with 537.5. \nIU junior diver Christina Loukas became the second diver in school history to sweep all three diving events at the Big Ten championships. Loukas won the 1-meter and 3-meter championship, setting a school record with a score of 387.95 in the 3-meter. Then she surprised even herself, winning the platform with a school record of 358.8 on her way to earning Diver of the Championships. \n"I knew I was capable of winning all three, but I wasn't really considering it," Loukas said. "I just wanted to go after my dives. I see myself as a springboard diver. I knew I had a good chance (in the springboard events) ... but the 10-meter I wasn't so sure about." \nSenior Leila Vaziri and freshman Presley Bard led the IU swimmers with strong performances. Vaziri set a Big Ten record in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 52.85. Vaziri finished in time to see her teammate Bard touch in second place. \n"It feels incredible," Vaziri said. "It's my last Big Tens and I get to leave my career with some kind of mark and I am really happy with it."\nIn the 200-yard backstroke, Bard finished first with a time of 1:55.62. Vaziri and freshman Ashley Jones were third and fourth, respectively.\nBard's swimming at the meet earned her Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors. \nAlong with senior Annica Loftstedt and sophomore Sarah Stockwell, Vaziri and Bard also led the 400-yard medley relay team to a first place finish with a school-record time of 3:38.16. \nSophomore Allison Kay added a victory in the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 1:58.40 and freshman Amilee Smith set an IU record in the 200-yard breaststroke earning second place with a time of 2:14.14. \n"Our team is so unified and has exceptional chemistry," Looze said. "We didn't start off great on the first day. We have a young team so we really had to learn on the fly, but we were really able to show our poise and composure."\nAside from Loukas, several Hoosiers had impressive showings on the diving side. In the 1-meter, freshman Brittney Feldman finished fifth and senior Lindsay Weigle took sixth. In the 3-meter, Feldman was third and Weigle fourth. On the platform, Weigle was second, while senior Heather Chapman finished fourth. \n"This is not something that our team lucked into," diving coach Jeff Huber said. "They have trained really hard and it is great to see a couple of our seniors go out in style."\nBoth Looze and Huber took home honors as well, earning Big Ten swimming and diving Coach of the Year honors. \n"I'm just so happy for the team," Looze said. "The coaches give all the credit to the girls. It's a great feeling right now"