Indiana men’s swim and dive will compete in the Ohio State Fall Invitational beginning Nov. 18 through Nov. 20 at McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion in Columbus, Ohio.
The Hoosiers are coming back to the pavilion after defeating No. 13 Virginia Tech, No. 25 Penn State and No. 11 Ohio on Oct. 29-30. The Buckeyes are 3-1 on their season and the Hokies are 2-1.
Indiana will compete against No. 11 Ohio State, the University of Kentucky, the University of Pittsburgh, the University of Cincinnati, No. 12 Virginia Tech and the University of Notre Dame. The University of Miami and Kenyon College will also participate in the diving events.
The Hoosiers look forward to the high-level competition and great racing, head swimming coach Ray Looze said.
The invitational will include preliminaries and finals each day. The preliminaries determine the swimmers or divers who will qualify for the finals.
“Performance in the preliminary is the focus this weekend.” head diving coach Drew Johansen said. “Being able to dive well amongst the larger numbers is a skill needed for Big Ten and NCAA championships next semester.”
Indiana won its first meet of the 2021-22 season against the University of Kentucky on Oct. 6, its 10th-straight win against Kentucky. The Wildcats are 3-4 on their season. Indiana will face Notre Dame for the first time since the 2019-20 season when the Hoosiers won 219-81. The Fighting Irish are 3-0 on their season. Indiana will also face the University of Cincinnati for the first time since the 2018-19 season when Indiana won 186-57.
Indiana swim and dive have a total of 18 swimmers with NCAA Division I Championships qualifying standards and 11 divers with NCAA Zone Qualifying scores going into the invite.
On Thursday, Indiana will compete in the 400-yard medley relay with its squad of Seniors Gabriel Fantoni and Van Mathias, junior Brendan Burns and freshman Rafael Miroslaw. At the last meet, they won the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:07.59.
Indiana will also compete in the 500-yard freestyle Thursday. Junior Michael Brinegar won this event for the second straight time at the last quad meet.
This invitational is an important halfway mark for the Hoosiers, as more athletes work towards qualifying times and scores for the postseason.
“The primary purpose of this competition for swimmers and divers is qualification for the postseason, Looze said.
Friday will feature the 200-yard medley relay, which seniors Bruno Blaskovic, Gabriel Fantoni, Van Mathias and junior Brendan Burns won at the last meet with a time of 1:25.79.
On Thursday and Friday, the 1-meter and 3-meter dives will take place. Freshman Carson Tyler placed first in both events at the last meet, earning himself Big Ten Men’s Diver of the Week on Nov. 3. He posted a score of 362.00 in the 1-meter dive and a score of 440.65 in the 3-meter dive.
Saturday will feature the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard butterfly. Junior Brendan Burns secured wins in these events last meet, leading him to be named Big Ten Men’s Swimmer of the Week on Nov. 3.
“The team and staff are looking forward to this week’s meet using a championship format with over 70 divers from 10 different schools,” Johansen said. “This will be a great chance to see where we are at about the halfway point in the season.
The meet will be streamed on Big Ten Plus and live results can be found here.
