The No. 8 Indiana women’s swim and dive team finished runner-up in the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Michigan on Saturday. Ohio State took the top spot with 1425 points, 133.5 points ahead of the Hoosiers. Michigan finished third with 1108 points.
“I’m super proud of this group,” head swimming coach Ray Looze said Saturday night. “There’s more to come at the NCAA meet.”
Sophomore Anna Peplowski and junior Anne Fowler had phenomenal weeks up north, being named Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships and Big Ten Diver of the Championships, respectively. Peplowski’s designation comes a year after she was named Big Ten Freshman of the Championships.
Indiana medaled in all five relay events and picked up 15 medals overall. Anna Peplowski was a key contributor to Indiana’s medal count – she helped the Hoosiers pick up three gold, three silver, and one bronze medal by herself, one medal for every event she swam.
She took individual Big Ten titles in the 200-yard freestyle and 200-yard backstroke, as well as helping Indiana claim the top spot in the 800-yard freestyle relay. Peplowski’s time of 1:43.33 in the 200 free was both a career best and an Indiana program record.
Anne Fowler swept the springboard events, claiming her second and third career Big Ten titles. She and sophomore Skyler Liu were the only two divers in the conference to qualify for the finals in all three diving events.
“It was a great day for the girls,” head diving coach Drew Johansen said Saturday night.
Johansen called Fowler’s Saturday performance a carryover from her strong showings leading up to the final night of competition. Fowler has been at the top of the standings often this season, but she is not alone on the list of talented Hoosier divers.
“(Skyler) upped her difficulty to try to win a championship for us,” Johansen said. “It wasn’t there for us today, but it sets us up for the NCAA meet, so we’re excited.”
Indiana had six women named First-Team All-Big Ten and two named Second-Team All-Big Ten. Fowler, Anna Peplowski, graduate students Noelle Peplowski and Mackenzie Looze, sophomore Ching Gan and freshman Kristina Paegle earned First-Team honors. Senior Ashley Turak and junior Elizabeth Broshears earned Second-Team honors.
The Indiana women will compete in the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships March 9-11 at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington. There, the Hoosiers will look to punch their tickets to the 2023 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, which run from March 15-18 in Knoxville, Tennessee. The men’s Big Ten Championships begin Wednesday, Feb. 22.
Editor's Note: A previous version of this story used an inaccurate photo that did not represent what was being reported in the story. The picture has since been change to better represent the event.
