Indiana swim and dive will host its first home meet of the season this weekend, facing the University of Missouri at 10 a.m. Saturday.
Missouri is coming off a sweep against Purdue in its first dual meet of the season. The men’s team finished last in their season-opening tri-meet versus the University of Georgia and Arizona State University and took third at the SMU Classic behind both the University of Texas and Texas A&M University. The Tigers were ranked 18th in the first coaches’ poll of the season and should provide good competition for the Hoosiers.
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The Missouri women’s team took second in their season opener and fourth at the SMU Classic, behind the University of Southern California, Michigan and the University of Louisville. The team is currently unranked.
Both Indiana teams enter the meet with a 2-1 record, with wins against the University of Kentucky and Texas A&M and a loss to Texas. The Indiana men won 16-straight dual meets prior to their loss to Texas on Oct. 21, a streak that dated back to 2019.
Head swim coach Ray Looze said he has no problem with the way the men competed against the Longhorns.
“We went up against a national championship team,” Looze said. “You can’t win them all, no one can.”
On the women’s side, Looze said he would like to see them win more relays in addition to improvements in butterfly events. He emphasized the importance of winning at least one relay event regardless of the opponent.
Looze also noted the men can improve in distance events.
“We have good personnel,” Looze said. “We improved substantially in Texas, but there is still a lot of ground to cover.”
Looze said he wants to see more depth from the men’s and women’s teams alike. In dual meets, the top five finishers score points, and Looze said he doesn’t want his teams getting to a point on the roster where points aren’t being scored. For him, depth is a high priority.
Looze also said that the Hoosiers are getting to a point where they are striving for a high standard rather than being satisfied with mediocrity. He spoke on the need for a majority — if not all members of any team — to pull in the same direction and hold each other to a high standard.
“I like the direction we’re headed,” Looze said. “We’re getting mentally tougher and sharper.”
