As one of the top-ranked schools entering the 2026-27 season, No. 2/5 Indiana swimming and diving hosted No. 1/3 University of Texas at Austin and No. 16 Northwestern at the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington on Friday to kick off the regular season.
Indiana split the meet, losing to both the men’s and women’s Texas teams while also prevailing over both of Northwestern’s teams.
In preparation for the World Championship short course trials on Oct. 31, the meet was held in a 25-meter short course format rather than the regular 25-yard format.
Indiana started the meet by placing second in both the men’s and women’s 200-meter medley relay. Both Indiana’s “A” teams were separated from the winning Texas “A” teams by less than a quarter of a second.
With a winning time of 1:53.00, sophomore Liberty Clark took home the first Hoosier win of the day in the women’s 200-meter freestyle, leading the event from start to finish. She also finished the day with wins in the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle.
Senior Miranda Grana contributed two wins of her own against the Longhorns and Wildcats, taking the women’s 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke in 56.93 seconds and 2:03.68 seconds, respectively.
Junior Raekwon Noel snagged Indiana’s first win on the men’s side in the 200-meter butterfly. He finished with a time of 1:52.02, more than a second ahead of Texas junior Cooper Lucas, who ended with a time of 1:53.21.
Noel also took home the men’s 100-meter butterfly title in 50.97 seconds. After being in third place at the 50-meter mark, Noel worked his way up to win another event for the Hoosiers.
Indiana sophomore Alex Shackell won both women’s butterfly races. Shackell won the 200-meter butterfly with a time of 2:03.96 and the 100-meter butterfly in 56.57 seconds.
In the men's 200-meter breaststroke, sophomore Josh Bey secured another win for Indiana in 2:04.28 seconds. Bey also won the 200-meter Individual Medley with a time of 1:55.11.
Indiana’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will travel to Walnut, California, for their second College Swimming League meet of the season. They will face the University of California, Berkley, Stanford University and North Carolina State University on Oct. 16. The meet starts at 7 p.m. with coverage available on ESPN+ and DAZN.
Follow reporter Leonardo Vesperini (@leovmedia and lvesperi@iu.edu) for updates throughout the Indiana swim and dive season.
