It’s not often a chance at a program-defining victory comes along, but that is exactly what the IU swimming and diving teams have in front of them Friday afternoon.
IU will welcome the Michigan Wolverines to the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center at 2 p.m. Friday. IU comes into the meet ranked tied for No. 4 in the country on the men’s side and at No. 13 for the women. Michigan is tied for No. 12 in men’s and ranked No. 6 in women’s. Michigan has also won eight of the last nine men’s Big Ten Championships and is the defending women’s champs.
“I know that our whole team has been training super hard especially in these even past few days just preparing and everyone looks so ready to go,” junior diver Jessica Parratto said.
The Hoosiers men’s swimmers will be led by junior Blake Pieroni, a gold medalist at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics and winner of two silvers and a bronze medal at the FINA Short Course World Championships in December.
“It’s going to be intense. It’s going to be one for the record books,” Pieroni said. “I don’t know when the last time we beat Michigan in a dual meet was, but we’re hoping to end that streak this Friday.”
It’s not surprising Pieroni can’t recall the last time IU men’s swimming beat Michigan in a dual meet. It was January of 1999, and he had just turned three years old.
The men’s team will also look for big results from its consistent divers. The squad has had a diver finish first in every single meet this year.
“It’s a chance to get a good look at our competition,” Diving Coach Drew Johansen said. “Obviously they’re the defending Big Ten champs on the men’s side. They’ve got some great swimmers and divers, and we’ll get a chance to size them up and see what we’re in for.”
On the women’s side the Hoosiers will look to get some more big results from junior swimmer Kennedy Goss, a bronze medalist for Canada in Rio de Janeiro and a gold medalist in the 4x200-meter relay at the FINA Short Course World Championships.
“It’s going to be a tough meet for both women and men because Michigan is a top program,” Goss said. “Michigan women won Big Ten last year, and they beat the boys at Big Ten last year, so it’s going to be a tough meet, but hopefully we can do our best to come out on top.”
The IU women’s divers will be lead by Parratto and senior Michal Bower. Bower comes into the meet on the heels of a third-place finish at the USA Diving Winter Nationals in the 3-meter springboard. The result earned her a spot on the USA World University games roster competing in Taipei, Taiwan, in August.
Parratto, a Dover, New Hampshire, native, is continuing her transition this year from platform diving to the springboard. So far the decision to focus on the springboard has paid off.
“It’s definitely a lot harder for me just because I’ve focused so much of my time and energy on platform,” Parratto said. ”So, it’s such a different concept to go in and train. Obviously it’s a lot lower, and it actually moves up and down. I’m working on my leg strength and improving that and just learning all the big dives I need to compete and actually be competitive in the Big Ten and NCAA.”
The spring opener will also reflect the work the Hoosiers put in during winter break. During that time the swimmers took a training trip to Bermuda, where they lived in an army barracks, and the divers had a training camp in Bloomington that began right after the New Year.
“It was different,” Pieroni said of the barracks. “I think we had probably about 30 guys in one room together, and it definitely facilitated a faster bonding experience, which was the other goal of the trip.”
Johansen also described the experience his divers endured while in Bloomington by explaining the camp allowed the athletes to focus entirely on diving and not have to worry about schoolwork and other worries that come during the year.
Now back in class and back in the pool, the Hoosiers are ready to welcome the Wolverines to town and get a crack at what could be the men’s first victory against Michigan in a dual meet since the 1998-99 season and the women’s first since 2013-14.
“I know that every single person on this team is not going to hold back as far as that,” Parratto said. “We’ve wanted that win for so long. I feel like I know it’s our time to really, really show everyone and prove to whoever doubted us before that it’s really our time to shine.”
