Women's swim team falls to Texas and Michigan

IU swimming coach Ray Looze and his staff schedule the hardest schedule possible in order to prepare the women of the swim team for big meets late in the season.

On Friday and Saturday, the competition didn’t disappoint, as powerhouse Texas and Big Ten rival Michigan came to Councilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center and gave the Hoosiers all they could handle.

“We’re not judged on our dual meet record, we’re judged on how we do in the Big Ten, how we do in the NCAA and how we hold up in competitions like that,” Looze said. “Our staff’s feeling is the only way to get prepared for that is to put your feet to the fire.”

The Longhorns defeated both the Hoosiers and the Wolverines by wide margins, but the race between IU and Michigan was a tight one. After the first day of racing, Michigan had a slim lead over IU, and by the time the final relay came around, the roles had reversed. IU had a three-point lead going into the last relay, but the Wolverines took second in the relay while the Hoosiers took third, giving Michigan the close victory.

“We have some of the best girls in the country on this team, and we don’t like to lose,” junior Alyssa Vavra said.

Vavra, along with a few other Hoosier swimmers, had a very successful weekend in individual races. She won the 400-yard individual medley and the 200-yard breaststroke, finished second in the 200-yard backstroke and third in the 200-yard individual medley.

Other winners included junior Brittany Strumbel, who won the 200-yard freestyle.

Junior Gabriella Agostino won both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions on Friday, greatly helping the Hoosiers get in position to defeat Michigan on the third day of competition, which proved to be the Hoosiers’ best day.

“Sometimes a good kick in the butt early in the season can be the best thing for you as a team, and we got that,” Looze said, “but the most important thing is we finished well and we figured it out.”