Women's swimming and diving captures Big Ten title

The IU women’s swimming and diving team won its first conference championship since 2007 on Saturday night, gathering 823 points and topping second place No. 10 Minnesota by 158 points at Michigan’s Canham Natatorium.

With the score fluctuating back and forth, alternating the championship lead between the Hoosiers and the Golden Gophers, IU took a commanding lead Friday after the three-meter springboards and never looked back.

Saturday’s action began with junior Kate Zubkova’s 3.96-second win over Minnesota’s Jenny Shaughnessy in the 200-back, followed later by senior captain Sarah Stockwell’s third place finish in the 200-breast.

The diving team, who racked up 64 points on the platform, stamped the biggest exclamation point of the night. Minnesota did not bring any divers to Ann Arbor.

“For Minnesota not to bring any divers, it was just a major plus for us,” senior diver Christiana Loukas said. “We used it to our advantage.”

The Hoosiers’ focus now turns to March’s NCAA Championships, but for now, they are happy with this week’s showing.
 
“We were so happy for each other all week,” Stockwell said. “Everybody swam so fast. We couldn’t believe how fast we were swimming at times. It was great.”
– By Kevin Loughery