The Indiana men’s swim and dive team won its second consecutive Big Ten Championship Saturday, defeating Ohio State by over 300 points on its way to the program’s 29th conference title.
“I’m so proud of everyone in this program,” head swim coach Ray Looze said Saturday night. “I’d like to give credit to all the swimmers and divers. They sacrificed so many hours of extremely hard work and trusted their coaches that the plan would work.”
Indiana tallied 27 medals and 11 individual Big Ten Championships as well as breaking nine Canham Natatorium pool records throughout the week in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Senior swimmer Brendan Burns impressed again, winning every event he swam and becoming the only swimmer ever to win both the 200-yard backstroke and the 200-yard butterfly. This was Burns’ third time accomplishing the feat. His efforts earned him the honor of Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships.
Graduate student Andrew Capobianco and sophomore Carson Tyler shared Diver of the Championship honors. The diving duo, along with sophomore Quinn Henninger, took the top three spots in the platform diving event, helping propel the Hoosiers to a dominant final day. Tyler snagged his second individual title of the weekend with a career-best score of 451.60 in the platform event.
“Tonight’s performance was such a demonstration of the power of the team,” head diving coach Drew Johansen said Saturday night. “Seeing Carson and Andrew share the diver of the meet award was a special moment for them. Andrew added his fourth Big Ten title to his résumé. He has set the culture and is leaving it in good hands.”
Capobianco also earned the Big Ten Sportsmanship Award, yet another accolade on the 2020 Olympic silver medalist’s impressive list.
While Saturday’s victory is grounds for some celebration, Indiana is not done yet.
“The next step is the diving zone championships followed by (the) NCAA Championships,” Looze said. “So much of what we want to accomplish is still ahead of us.”
Indiana hosts the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships March 9-11 at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington. There, Hoosier divers will compete for a spot in the 2023 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.
The women’s championships run March 15-18 at the Allan Jones Aquatic Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. The men’s championships will take place March 22-25 at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis.
