But on Wednesday, the program recorded a second distinction for itself as a leading program in the classroom as well.
The College Swimming Coaches Association of America recognized both the men and women’s squads as Scholar All-America Teams. In order to receive this distinction, teams must have an average 3.0 GPA or higher for the fall semester.
“We are so very proud to stand for both outstanding academics as well as world-class swimming and diving at Indiana,” IU Coach Ray Looze said in an IU Athletics press release. “Such accomplishments are never taken lightly coming from such an elite level institution of higher education such as IU. This is a testament to the type of high level people on our Hoosier squads.”
As the teams take on this semester of athletic and academic challenges, they are not letting up on the gas pedal, and they are looking forward to getting faster, Looze said.
The team will travel to Louisville, Kentucky, to compete in its last dual meet of the 2015-16 season Friday. This is a milestone for the team because it signifies the true beginning of championship season.
“Louisville is really good,” Looze said. “They’re even better at home. They bring in their band and they are a very good dual meet team. They bring in extra stuff to get prepared for dual meets so our swimmers know what’s coming up.”
The Louisville men are ranked No. 10 and the women are ranked No. 9, right in the mix with IU in the pool of top NCAA teams.
“This will be where we finalize our competitive lists and the orders of dives we’re going to use,” IU Coach Drew Johansen said. “Then it’s time to get prepared for Big Tens after that. Right now, less is more. In the end it only comes down to six dives.”
In practice this week, the divers have been using different training styles to practice dives in a competitive setting. They have been going head-to-head against each other.
At this point in the season, fewer reps mean the divers are learning they have to do what they can to make each dive count, Johansen said.
“It will be one of our more challenging dual meets so if we can go down there and get a win, I would be really proud of these guys,” Looze said. “That’s what I expect them to do.”
