The IU men's swim and dive team is in fourth in the overall standings after the first night of the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships in Austin, Texas.
The senior trio of Zach Apple, Ian Finnerty and Vini Lanza, along with junior Mohamed Samy, finished fourth on the 800-yard freestyle relay with a time of 6:07.35.
The University of Texas won the event with a time of 6:05.08, an American and NCAA record. North Carolina State University was second and the University of California, Berkeley, was third.
The No. 2 Hoosiers were ranked third in the nation for this event coming in.
Berkeley was four hundredths of a second ahead of IU.
For IU, night one wasn't exactly the start it was looking for heading into the rest of the week in Austin, Texas. IU is looking to win its first national championship since 1973.
Thursday features the following events: 200-yard freestyle relay, 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle, 400-yard medley relay and the 1-meter dive. The Hoosiers have no competitors for the 500-yard freestyle.
IU’s 400-yard medley relay holds the top time in the nation at 3:01.63, and its 200-yard freestyle relay ranks fifth at 1:16.01.
Lanza holds the second-fastest time in the nation on the 200-yard individual medley and Finnerty ranks sixth. Apple is 10th nationally on the 50-yard freestyle. Fellow Hoosier, sophomore Bruno Blaskovic, ranks 22nd.
Redshirt senior James Connor will look for his first national title against teammate Andrew Capobianco in the 1-meter dive. The sophomore is the only one to have defeated Connor in an event this year.
The action resumes at 6 p.m. tomorrow and can be watched on ESPN.
