Saturday’s meet saw another strong showing for the IU swimming and diving teams. The Hoosiers traveled to Purdue for a rivalry meet and came away with a 182.5-117.5 win on the men’s side and a 155-139 victory for the women. The men won 12 of 16 events on the day, and the women won 10 of 16.
The pair of wins stretched the men’s team’s record to 10-0 on the season, and the women now sit at 7-3.
“I think it’s just another confidence booster going into this weekend against Louisville,” junior diver Jesicca Parratto said. “I thought it was great.”
Sophomore Vini Lanza backed up his pair of wins against Michigan with a win in the 100-yard butterfly and teamed up with senior Bob Glover, junior Ali Khalafalla and sophomore Ian Finnerty to win the 200-yard medley relay.
Junior Blake Pieroni continued to rack up wins for the Hoosiers as well. He captured the 100-yard breaststroke for the first time in his career with a time of 54.66. Pieroni also won the 50-yard freestyle and joined juniors Josh Romany, Oliver Patrouch and Khalafalla for a win in the 400-yard freestyle relay.
“You know, Vini and Blake are studs,” head swim coach Ray Looze said. “They’re consistently winning week in and week out.”
Mid-year transfer Mohamed Samy helped IU as well in just his second meet as a Hoosier. The sophomore joined IU at the start of the spring semester. The Egypt native won his first two individual collegiate events in the 100-yard freestyle and the 400-yard individual medley.
The men’s divers faced stiff competition from 2015 NCAA 1-meter and platform dive champion Steele Johnson of Purdue. IU sophomore James Connor gave Johnson a run for his money in the 10-meter platform dive but ultimately fell short of the Purdue star’s 436.60 with a score of 423.0.
In the 1-meter springboard IU lost to Johnson again, but junior Michael Hixon finished second and Connor finished third.
On the women’s side, senior Gia Dalesandro performed well for the Hoosiers for the second consecutive week. She won the 100- and 200-yard butterfly, the 200-yard individual medley, and th e 200-yard medley relay with juniors Ali Rockett and Kennedy Goss and sophomore Lilly King.
“I think people really stepped up to the plate,” Dalesandro said. “There were some really great swims by people that were kind of unexpected. Everybody did their part and we got some third, fourth and fifths that really made the big difference.”
Two of the unexpected finishes were from freshman Cassie Jernberg and senior Stephanie Marchuk, who finished fourth and fifth in the 1,000-meter freestyle.
Senior Bailey Pressey’s second place finish in the 100-yard backstroke was also critical, and Looze said backstroke is a thin race for IU at the moment.
King again dominated the breaststroke events this week. She won both the 100- and 200-yard events with NCAA B-cut times in each.
“We win as a team. We lose as a team, and I really think our depth showed through,” Looze said.
For the women’s divers, Parratto and senior Michal Bower demonstrated their one-two punch ability by finishing first and second respectively in the 1-meter springboard. Parratto, the 2015 NCAA champion in the 10-meter platform dive, won that event as well.
“I mean, Michal is one of my best friends, and it’s so awesome to see her doing so well and going back-to-back, one-two,” Parratto said. “It’s just such a great feeling, and I know how hard she works and it’s obviously shown. She’s been the best she’s ever been so far, and I think she’s just getting better and better.”
