Cheers echoed through Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center as the No. 6 Indiana men’s swim defeated the University of Cincinnati on Friday, 163-122.
This was the Hoosier’s first home competition since Oct. 6, and for families, fans and the athletes, it meant everything to be back home, head swimming coach Ray Looze said.
The Hoosiers and Bearcats recently faced each other at the Ohio State Fall Invitational. The Bearcats placed seventh with 700 points, and Indiana came in first with 2,830 points.
Senior Andrew Capobianco took the 1-meter and 3-meter dives, scoring a 425.63 in the 1-meter dive and a 465.30 in the 3-meter dive.
Freshman divers Quinn Henninger and Carson Tyler were back after representing Team USA on Nov. 26 and 27 at the 2020 Junior Pan American Championships in Cali, Colombia, where Henninger won gold in the 3-meter dive and Tyler won bronze in the 1-meter dive.
On Friday, Henninger placed second in both the 1-meter, scoring 386.85, and 3-meter with a 420.38. The Hoosiers swept diving as Tyler came in third in both events. In the 1-meter he scored a 386.63, and in the 3-meter, he marked a 340.05.
Indiana continued to perform in the lanes winning 12 out of 14 swimming events.
Three-time Big Ten men’s swimmer of the week junior Brendan Burns individually won the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:38.95 and the 500-yard freestyle finishing with a 4:26.08.
“Our team’s looking really good and working together,” Burns said. “We have a really great group of guys, from the freshman all the way to the seniors.”
Senior Jack Franzman individually won the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 19.38, and freshman Rafael Miroslaw individually placed first in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 43.87.
Indiana secured the top three places in the 1,000-yard freestyle as sophomore Warren Briggs came in first with a 9:16.68, freshman Aidan Reagan took second with a 9:32.10 and freshman Mason Carlton placed third with a 9:37.38.
Sophomore Maxwell Reich secured first in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 55.28 and in the 200-yard breaststroke with a 2:00.70, seven seconds ahead of the second-place Bearcat.
Senior Van Mathias won the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 48.32, sophomore Tomer Frankel placed first in the 200-yard butterfly with a 1:44.12 and senior Gabriel Fantoni secured the 200-yard individual medley with a time of 1:46.92.
Chants of “Hoosier relay!” came from teammates to begin the 400-yard freestyle relay, helping the squad of Franzman, Burns, freshman Rafael Miroslaw and sophomore Gavin Wight secure first with a time of 2:56.96.
Indiana took the top two places in the 200-yard medley relay. Their 'A' squad of Fantoni, Mathias, Frankel and Franzman placed first with a time of 1:26.14. The 'B' squad of seniors Jacob Steele and Brandon Hamblin, freshman Luke Barr and Burns finished second with a time of 1:28.45.
Looze said he was proud of the relay exchanges and hard work from the squads after talking about needing a championship mentality from them at the Ohio State Fall Invitational.
“We have been really emphasizing an improvement of our relays because we’ve got big goals,” Looze said. “We want to have relays that are in the A final at the NCAAs, that can contend for Big Ten Championships, and we need to be better.”
Indiana will take a break to continue training before the second half of the season and Big Ten Championships begin in February. They return to the pool Jan. 8 to face Michigan in Ann Arbor.
