No. 5 Indiana men’s swim and dive took advantage of its road trip to Columbus, Ohio, as it swept all three wins over Penn State, Ohio State and Virginia Tech this weekend.
Indiana defeated No. 12 Virginia Tech, 248-105, No. 25 Penn State, 273-77 and No. 11 Ohio State, 230-123.
Junior swimmer Brendan Burns won four events and played a large part in helping Indiana come out on top.
“Ohio State and Virginia Tech are deep, and Penn State has some elite athletes, but we did a great job of stepping up to the challenge,” Burns said.
Junior Michael Brinegar won the 500-yard freestyle for the second straight meet, posting a 4:20.99, quicker than his 4:27.31 he posted at the last meet against Northwestern. His win came a day after being named to the USA Swimming rosters for the 2021 Fédération Internationale de Natation World Championships and Marathon World Series.
Brinegar also won the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 8:56.32, beating his previous time of 9:06.41.
In the 500-yard freestyle, senior Mikey Calvillo finished third with a 4:23.18. Both Brinegar and Calvillo earned NCAA Division I Championships qualifying standards in the 500-yard freestyle with their times.
Head swimming coach Ray Looze emphasized the importance of having key contributors on the team helping Indiana excel.
“The men were dominant with the exception of dropping two relays,” Looze said. “Both teams are not missing key contributors right now, which bodes well for the future.”
Burns, freshman Rafael Miroslaw and seniors Gabriel Fantoni and Van Mathias won the 400-yard medley relay with a time of 3:07.59.
Additionally, senior Bruno Blaskovic, Fantoni, Mathias and Burns won the 200-yard medley relay with a time of 1:25.79.
Burns also secured the win in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:44.00 and the 200-yard butterfly with a posting of 1:42.30. Fantoni also won the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 46.10 and the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 46.06. Fantoni and Burns contributed to Indiana’s success with four wins each.
“Overall, it was a great team performance where we had a lot of close races but came out on top in almost every single one,” said Burns.
Senior Jack Franzman won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 19.94 and Miroslaw secured the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:35.62.
Freshmen Carson Tyler and Quinn Henninger earned first and second, respectively in the 3-meter dive. Tyler posted a score of 440.65 and Henninger finished with a score of 429.25. The pairing also placed first and second in their last meet.
Tyler also won the 1-meter dive scoring a 362.00, an NCAA Zone Qualifying score for the postseason.
The weekend competition for all of Indiana’s swim and dive saw a total of 18 swimmers earning NCAA Division I Championships qualifying standards and 11 divers earning NCAA Zone Qualifying scores.
“We have a lot of work to do heading into the next part of our season, but our team is getting better every day,” Burns said. “Getting the clean sweep on the weekend was definitely a confidence booster.”
Looking ahead, Indiana will return to Columbus, Ohio, for the three-day Ohio State Invitational on Nov. 18-20.
