Heading into Friday's action in the men's swimming and diving Big Ten Championships, Indiana sophomore diver Darian Schmidt had never even eclipsed 400 points in the 3-meter dive competition.
After Friday, Schmidt won't have to worry about breaking the 400-point barrier anymore. After two school record-setting dives in both the preliminaries (445.90) and the finals, Schmidt won his first career Big Ten title in the 3-meter event, earning a score of 459.30. Schmidt's record-setting day was just the tip of the iceberg for the Hoosiers, as two other IU swimmers also set school records in a comeback effort to draw the Hoosiers within 11 points of second-place Ohio State.
Junior Sam Trahin led the way for the Hoosiers in the first individual event of the day, finishing third with a school record time of 3:46.49 in the 400-yard Individual Medley. Though he still lost the race, Trahin's placing was the highest of his career, after finishing in fifth in last year's event.
Despite not winning a single event in the first two days of competition, sophomore Cody Miller broke the Hoosiers' slump by winning the 100-yard breaststroke in a school record time of 52.34. Miller's effort, also an NCAA A-Cut qualifying time, was good for his third career Big Ten title in his third race in a breaststroke event (his prior two wins were the 100- and 200-yard breaststrokes at the 2011 Big Ten Championships).
Following Miller's title, sophomore James Wells upset Michigan's Miguel Ortiz in the 100-yard backstroke, winning the event by .03 seconds in a time of 46.30. Wells' time was not only the best of his career, but it was also good for his first career Big Ten title after finishing in seventh in the event last year.
Finally, Schmidt sealed the Hoosiers' third straight title with his 459.30 point performance in the 3-meter dive, and now owns the two best scores in IU history. This comes after he hadn't even been 10 points away from the fifth best time in school history before Friday's action. Junior Zac Nees also joined Schmidt in the record books, as his third-place score of 413.85 was good for the new fifth best time in school history. Junior Mick Dell'Orco finished .25 points away from Nees in a fourth place effort, while junior Casey Johnson (7th, 376.85) and freshman Connor Brisson (8th, 313.75) rounded out the top eight.
The Hoosiers will return to the pool for the last day of the Big Ten Championships come Saturday, as they try to overtake the Buckeyes for second place in the championships. Currently, Michigan leads second place Ohio State by 136.5 points, and the Hoosiers by 147.5 heading into Day 4.
For updates on IU swimming and diving, follow Jordan Littman on Twitter @jlitt93.
