The No. 6 Indiana men’s swim and dive team finished its season this weekend at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. The Hoosiers took fourth place overall and three Indiana athletes captured individual titles on the national stage, hosted at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
“It was one of the major goals for the boys to get a trophy,” head swimming coach Ray Looze said on Saturday night. “Final four, baby! We got a trophy and that means you’re one of the best teams in the country.”
Indiana was led by senior swimmer Brendan Burns, graduate diver Andrew Capobianco and sophomore diver Carson Tyler. The trio stood on the top step of the podium in the 100-yard backstroke, the 3-meter dive and the platform dive, respectfully.
“I don’t think I can be competitive in the 100 back,” Burns said to assistant coach Luke Ryan before the event. Looze disagreed.
“We both got him for that and told him, ‘Hey, this is what you need to do.’ He trusted us, and we’re humbled that he would do that in a moment where you’re not sure or believing in yourself,” Looze said on Friday night.
Burns’ victory in the 100 back gave the title to a Hoosier for the first time since Ben Hansen did it in 2008. His time of 43.61 seconds in the event is a new program record, topping the previous program-best time of 44.15, which was also set by Burns.
Capobianco finished his college career in style by claiming his third career 3-meter title. His program-record score of 522.60 points was over 70 points clear of second place and his lowest scoring dive was worth 81 points.
“Andrew put together the best list of his life in a moment that had so much meaning,” head diving coach Drew Johansen said on Friday night. “He was amazing.”
Looze emphasized Capobianco’s dominance in the 3-meter.
“He could have almost been done after five rounds and still won,” Looze said.
Sophomore Quinn Henninger and Tyler finished third and fourth in the 3-meter event, giving the Hoosiers 51 of their 379 points on the week.
“It was a great day to be a Hoosier,” Johansen said.
Tyler claimed Indiana’s first platform diving title when he took the top spot in the Saturday night event. His fifth dive, which was a back 3 ½ somersault tuck, earned him a perfect 99.00 score. He took the title by just over 20 points.
“Carson was spectacular tonight,” Johansen said. “His fifth-round dive was not only perfect, but it was done at the most critical moment of the event. Absolutely clutch!”
Henninger picked up his second medal of the meet with a third-place finish in the event. Capobianco earned his second-consecutive silver medal in the 1-meter springboard event. With their strong showings throughout the week, the Indiana divers earned 104 points in the meet’s three diving events.
Other program records came courtesy of senior swimmer Van Mathias’ 18.89-second time in the 50-yard freestyle and junior swimmer Tomer Frankel’s bronze-medal time of 44.04 seconds in the 100-yard butterfly.
In total, the Hoosiers finished fourth in the country, picked up three individual titles, their most since 2019, broke six program records, earned 10 medals, beat both their No. 6 ranking and fifth-place psych sheet projections and 10 Indiana men combined for 37 All-American honors.
“It’s so gratifying that we can bring this home to Indiana University,” Looze said on Saturday night.
The Hoosiers have finished their 2022-23 season. The women finished seventh and the men fourth at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, both above their respective preseason rankings of No. 13 and No. 8 respectively. They will return to action in the fall.
Follow reporter Nick Rodecap (@nickrodecap) for updates throughout the Indiana swim and dive season.
