The Indiana University men's and women's swimming and diving teams will compete against and host the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Virginia Cavaliers at their first home meet of the 2012-13 season at the Councilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center on Friday and Saturday.
Admission for the event is free. Spectators are encouraged to park in the Sunrise Lane lot across the street from the CBAC with the entrance off 10th Street.
"I'm very excited to compete at home," sophomore Steve Schmuhl said. "It's always fun swimming in front of a home crowd and being able to show our friends and families first-hand what we work so hard for."
The teams will go head-to-head in the 200 freestyle relay, 200 individual medley, 500 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 butterfly and 400 medley relay to kick off the two-day tri-meet on Friday at 5 p.m ET. The divers are scheduled to contest in the women's 1-meter springboard and the men's 3-meter springboard.
On Saturday at 11 a.m ET, the teams will compete in the 200 medley relay, 1,000 freestyle, 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 breaststroke, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 400 individual medley, 400 freestyle relay, women's 3-meter diving and men's 1-meter diving.
According to the most recent College Swimming Coaches Association of America poll, the Hoosier women are ranked 14th and boast a 2-2 record on the season with victories over Kentucky and No. 22 Michigan. The women swimmers incurred losses against No. 5 Texas and No. 7 Tennessee.
"Our breastrokers, backstrokers, and flyers are going to help us out a lot this weekend," junior Lindsay Vrooman said. "I know that we're going to need our freestylers to step up; UVA has some of the best freestylers in the country, so I know this meet is going to be a huge challenge for me along with some of the other girls."
Because the women's team has changed up some of their relays, it will be interesting to see how they compare to No. 10 Virginia and Penn State, Vrooman said.
Freshman and holder of two NCAA provisional times Brooklyn Snodgrass has remained undefeated in the 100 and 200 backstroke throughout the season. After her performance at the Texas/Michigan tri-meet, Snodgrass was named Big Ten Swimmer and Freshman of the Week on Oct. 29.
In the 100 breaststroke, senior Ashley Specht has posted an NCAA B cut and freshman Madeline Maher has hit a provisional mark in the 200 breaststroke.
Senior Amy Cozad has been the top performer for the women's divers, especially on the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard, however, she has not competed in the platform, her best event.
For the men's team, Schmuhl has contributed to the Indiana's depth with two NCAA provisional cuts in the 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly, along with junior Cody Miller who has started the season off with NCAA B cuts in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and junior James Wells who has posted a provisional time in the 100 backstroke.
"The men's team has really stepped up our game since the last duel meet with Michigan and Texas," Schmuhl said, "It was a shock in the system for some of our swimmers and it really gave us a good perspective on what we need to do in order to reach our goals for the end of the season."
With their losses coming to No. 1 Michigan and No. 4 Texas, the No. 7 Hoosier men are more battle hardened and look to come back with a vengeance, IU Head Coach Ray Looze said.
"Both the staff and team are constantly looking to get better every day," Looze said. "That is why we swim the most difficult dual meet schedule in the nation."
The men's team will be up against another fierce competitor this weekend as they compete against No. 8 Vriginia and No. 24 Penn State.
In the middle distances, senior Jim Barbiere has performed for IU with top times in the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle and 500 freestyle.
The Hoosier divers are expecting to come out of this weekend victorious against Virginia and Penn State.
"I really think that everyone on the team has put themselves in a good position to dive well this weekend," senior Mick Dell'Orco said. "I'd definitely expect Darian Schmidt to do well this weekend; he has been lights out in practice and I also wouldn't be surprised to see Casey Johnson be a top finisher for us."
All-American diver, junior Darian Schmidt, has led the Hoosiers on the 1-meter and 3-meter springboard.
After this weekend, the IU swimming and diving team will wrap up the year at the USA Short Course Winter Nationals (Nov. 29-Dec. 1) and the OSU Invitational (Nov. 30-Dec.2).
