The Big Ten Championships will last a total of four days with three preliminary rounds and four finals, concluding Saturday.
The women will be headed to the tournament on a six-match winning streak and have placed first in three of the past six years and second for the past three consecutive years. IU is one of six Big Ten schools that are ranked in the top 25 with No. 14 Minnesota being the highest-ranked.
Although the Hoosiers are not the top-ranked team in the Big Ten, they have some individual times that are at the top of the list within the conference. Freshman Kennedy Goss is the fastest swimmer in the Big Ten when it comes to the 200 freestyle. Her time of 1:44.87 has yet to be beaten by any swimmer in the Big Ten this season. She also has the second-fastest time in the 500 freestyle.
Other IU swimmers who have top performances in the Big Ten are junior Brooklyn Snodgrass in the 100 backstroke and sophomore Gia Dalesandro in the 200 ?butterfly.
“Minnesota will be the No. 1 competition,” Goss said. “Michigan this year has been doing really well. They have a lot of new freshmen coming in and Ohio State will be a big runner-up because it’s at home.”
Minnesota finished first in last year’s Big Ten ?Championships.
This tournament will also be another meet that will be used for individuals to qualify for the NCAA tournament. Senior Justine Ress will be looking to qualify for the NCAA during this tournament.
However, she understands the importance of not just looking to win every race, but picking up points by gaining the second- and third-place finishes as well.
“I think our biggest strength is that we have ?multiple people good at a lot of races.” Ress said. “So where in past years we could get the first place, this year we’ll be coming in with hopefully first but also second, third, fourth and fifth to try and back up the first-place person.”
Frank Bonner
