If you want to be top-five, race against those who are already there. That’s IU Coach Ray Looze’s philosophy.
The Hoosier swimming and diving programs kick off their seasons this weekend at home with the Texas Longhorns, the defending national champions, and Florida Gators, a perennial powerhouse.
The Hoosiers come into the meet having finished ninth on the men’s side and 12th on the women’s side last season. The IU women’s teams beat Florida for the first time ever last season, and the men’s team is looking to avenge its 2015 loss. Neither the men nor women have ever beaten Texas in a dual meet.
“The coaches’ thought process was to just put us against the best teams in the country and see where we stand,” junior Blake Pieroni said. “We wanna actually really see where we stand against the best in the country, and that’s gonna happen this weekend.”
Something to watch between Friday and Saturday will be the change in distance between the courses. Looze said Friday’s meet will use an Olympic, 50-meter, long-course format, while Saturday will take place in the normal, short course, 25-yard distance.
The meet will feature not only some of the best college swimmers and divers, but some of the best swimmers and divers in the world, as all three teams will boast Olympians on their rosters. Pieroni, Texas’ Townley Haas and Florida’s Conner Dwyer, who teamed up with Haas, Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte to win gold for Team USA in the 4x200 meter freestyle relay in Rio de Janeiro, highlight the men’s side. Texas also features junior Joseph Schooling, who beat Phelps and set an Olympic record en route to a gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly in Rio de Janeiro.
On the women’s end, IU’s Lilly King and diver Jessica Parratto and Texas’ Joanna Evans, who finished 13th in the 400-meter freestyle in Rio de Janeiro, will display their world-class abilities in Bloomington.
“You’re going to have a collection of Olympians, Rio Olympians, like no other meet that I think will be hosted by any NCAA institution,” Looze said. “It’s a great way to start it off, and what better way than to have, you know, a bunch of Olympians come to the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatics Center right after Rio.”
IU diving Coach Drew Johansen said these first few dual meets will prepare his divers well for the larger tests ahead, meaning the Big Ten Championships and NCAA’s, especially because the team is just getting back in the swing of things as many athletes did not arrive back from Rio de Janeiro until after classes started.
“As these first few dual meets unfold, we’re going to be using a mixture of some of their competitive dives as well as basic skill dives that are leading toward maybe new dives we hope to land in the future,” Johansen said.
