After an undefeated regular season, No. 4 Indiana men's swim and dive now enters two months of championship competition, beginning with the Big Ten Championships at 10 a.m. Wednesday through Saturday at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, Indiana.
The Hoosiers will have to hold their own against No. 9 Ohio State, who they’ve beaten both times the two have faced off this season. The Hoosiers will also face No. 13 Michigan, whose meet at the beginning of the spring season was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns.
“The men are in a three-way battle with Ohio State and Michigan and ourselves,” head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “Anybody could win that.”
In addition to Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State, No. 24 Wisconsin and No. 25 Northwestern are the other ranked Big Ten teams in the College Swimming & Diving Coaches Association of America Top 25 Division I February rankings.
Indiana visited Northwestern in October, winning 173-120. At the meet, junior Brendan Burns set a new 200-meter butterfly pool record with a time of 1:43.18. Senior Gabriel Fantoni also secured a pool record in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 46.09.
The meet against Northwestern also highlighted the future of Indiana men’s diving as freshman Carson Tyler — in his first-career dual meet — set a pool record in the 3-meter dive with a 408.00.
Related: [Indiana’s pitching staff throws itself into winless season-opening series at Clemson]
Tyler will compete in his first Big Ten Championship after securing postseason qualifying scores in the 1-meter dive with a 411.83 and the platform dive with a 411.23.
Senior Andrew Capobianco prepares to lead the diving squad during the Big Ten Championships and will compete in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. At the 2021 Big Ten Men’s Championships, Capobianco was named Big Ten Co-Diver of the Championships after winning the 1-meter dive and placing fourth in the 3-meter.
Ten Indiana swimmers will look to place in the championships, including senior Bruno Blaskovic, who will compete in the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle. Junior Michael Brinegar will participate in the 500-yard and 1,650-yard freestyle, and Burns will swim in the 200-yard freestyle, the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke, as well as the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly.
Burns returns to the Big Ten Championships after a successful 2021 Championships, where he won the 200-yard backstroke and 200-yard butterfly and finished second in the 100-yard butterfly to earn the title of Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships.
Additionally, senior Mikey Calvillo and sophomore Tristian DeWitt will compete in the 400-yard individual medley, and freshman Josh Matheny and senior Van Mathias will swim in the 200-yard individual medley.
Related: [IndyCar Series season preview: AJ Foyt, Andretti and AMSP teams look to start season off right]
Matheny will also compete in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke. Another freshman and standout swimmer this season, Rafael Miroslaw prepares to swim the 100-yard and 200-yard freestyle.
Miroslaw has continued to improve and excel throughout the season, improving his times and continuously winning his events. On Jan. 19, he was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his performance against Louisville, where he placed first in two of his freestyle events and helped lead the 400-yard freestyle relay squad to a victory.
“Our goal is to have the best competition possible,” Looze said. “We want our men to display the perseverance, competitiveness and desire it takes to be successful at such a high-level event.”
Indiana looks to take back the Big Ten Championship title from Michigan, who has held onto it since 2020. Indiana placed first in 2019 with Michigan placing second. Last year, Indiana placed second behind Michigan.
The Hoosiers have finished in the top three for 11 straight seasons.
To follow Indiana during this week go to B1G Championships Central: https://bit.ly/3p57MuS
For live results:
(Swim): https://bit.ly/3LPzTrx
(Dive): https://bit.ly/3LTqtvw
Live Stream: bigtenplus.com
