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(11/11/09 4:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Two seems to be a lucky number when it comes to IU’s swimming and diving teams.In the first two weeks of the season, the Hoosiers had two swimmers named Big Ten Swimmer of the week – twice.Junior freestyler Titus Knight received the honor two times for the men’s team and senior backstroker Kate Fesenko accomplished the same feat on the women’s side.Knight’s most recent meet took place in his hometown of Austin, Texas, where the swimming and diving team (1-1) fell to Texas 149-179.Knight still had a stellar performance in a crowd that included his family and friends.He remained undefeated in his main event, the 200-meter freestyle, with a time of 1:37.91. He took second in the 100-meter freestyle and the 500-meter freestyle.Knight also contributed in a 200-meter freestyle relay victory.With the Hoosiers off until Nov. 20, Knight has time to think about what being undefeated might mean.“I just try to swim as hard as I can and as fast as I can every single race,” he said. “Being undefeated has no real impact on me.”The positive early start has Knight anticipating what he could do before the season ends. “It makes me real excited about what I’m capable of doing,” he said.Fesenko can relate to Knight’s excitement about early season successes.She, too, had an excellent meet in Austin, where the women’s swimming and diving team (2-1) competed in a dual meet. They beat Michigan 251-174 but lost to Texas 222-162.She has the fastest time in the NCAA in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke. In Austin, she finished with a time of 53.30 in the 100 back and 1:55.56 in the 200 back.Even though the backstroke might be her strength, the versatile swimmer also placed second in the 200-meter individual medley and the 100-meter butterfly.In her relay competitions, she helped her team to second place in the 200- and 400-meter free relays and a third-place finish in the 200-meter free relay.Although it might seem like a lot of events, Fesenko said she enjoys contributing to the team in many different ways.“I feel the most pressure in my main events,” she said. “The rest is just mostly fun for me.”Early success will not keep Fesenko from her season goal.“The main focus for me is to go to the NCAA tournament and to help my team win another Big Ten title,” she said.Described by assistant head coach Pam Swander as mentally tough, Fesenko also brings a unique leadership ability to the team. She gets that from competing in World Championships with Ukraine.“What Kate brings is her experience,” Swander said. “The knowledge of the sport that she shares with the women’s team is invaluable.”
(09/15/09 10:27pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Christina Loukas was inducted into the Chicagoland Hall of Fame only four years removed from her All-American prep career. The Deerfield High School graduate and Riverwoods, Ill., native impressed many with her 2008 performances on the Olympic team, where she finished first in the 3-meter springboard. She also earned All-American honors in every year of her IU career en route to gaining the title a total of eight times. But Loukas was even more prolific as a high schooler. She won three straight Illinois high school state diving titles from 2001 to 2003 and finished second as a freshman. In all three of her championship years, Loukas was an All-American. She also placed seventh in the 2004 U.S. Senior National Championships. The two-time USA diving national champion is now prepping for the 2012 Olympics.
(08/06/09 12:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Nearly every day at the IU Outdoor Pool, one might see a 68-year-old former Olympian swim next to an IU graduate student. A student could also spot an 85-year-old IU alumnus performing the backstroke while a current IU senior warms up alongside.To members of the IU Masters Swimming Club, age is nothing but a number.And Joel Stager, a professor in the kinesiology department and director of the Counsilman Center for the Science of Swimming, wouldn’t have it any other way.“(The swimmers) all interact as colleagues and friends,” said Stager, who has swum with the club since the late 1970s. “I can’t think of a whole lot of groups that are like that. ... Age doesn’t become much of an issue in the water.”Forty-two members of the team will be competing in the U.S. Masters Swimming Long Course Nationals running Aug. 6-10 at the IU-Purdue University Indianapolis Natatorium. The event is the second of two national events supported by the U.S. Masters Swimming, a group founded in 1970 to promote continued competition for former swimmers.“The people who swim at nationals are frequently people who used to appear in the Olympics or are really top-quality swimmers,” said Peter Finn, a swimmer on the IU Masters team and professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences. “You have quite a range of people.”The swimmers have different motivations for heading to the pool on a daily basis. For the older members, training sessions promote wellness and can potentially slow the aging process.“Our research interests are sort of tied in with our hobby,” Stager said of his and Finn’s swimming schedule. “Our data basically shows that there may be as much as a 15-year offset between the chronological age and the biological age. A 60-year-old Master’s swimmer may look like more like a 45-year-old.”Senior Kayla Abbott said she enjoys time in the pool with the IU Masters despite the age difference.“You can get a lot of advice from them because they have a lot of experience,” Abbott said.For former Olympian and IU alumnus Alan Somers, the main draw to the swimming lanes is the social aspect.“You wouldn’t think that people who have their head underwater all the time would socialize very much, but you do at the end of the pool and in the locker room and that sort of thing,” Somers said.The 68-year-old competed in the 1960 Summer Olympics, finishing fifth and seventh in the 400-meter and 1,500-meter freestyle, respectively. He was 19 at the time. After his swimming career, he studied to become a neurologist and brought a practice to Bloomington about 15 years after graduating. His return also resulted in his comeback to the pool.Somers said he will swim with the club for nationals in the relays, although he has mixed feelings on the subject.“It’s a form of post-traumatic stress disorder in that when you go to these Masters meets, you get the same feeling I’ve had before – a lot of anxiety and that sort of thing,” he said.Somers said he feels the races take a greater toll on him as well.“When you get in these meets, you tend to swim hard, and it’s really painful,” he said, grimacing at the thought. “I end up going faster than I intended to go. I don’t know if I really want to feel all that pain at this age.”Despite the possible aches and pains, Finn said he expects his team to compete at a high level.“We’re actually hoping that we might be able to win the nationals,” he said.Finn said he has reason to believe the team is capable of such a lofty feat. The IU swim team, currently under the direction of coach Ray Looze, has a long history of excellence dating back to its first men’s NCAA championship title in 1968.Some of the swimmers from that era as well as several former Olympians make up the IU team heading to the IUPUI Natatorium.“It exposes kind of a statement to the quality of IU swimming as well as just the community at IU,” Finn said.Despite the strength of the team, Stager said he faced jitters about racing against top competitors from across the country. While he said he generally has performed well at these meets, he said he never knows what to expect from his opponents.“The closer it gets, the more anxious I become about the whole thing,” he said. “I’ll keep my fingers crossed.”
(06/07/09 11:36pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Coaching changes could mean higher expectations for the IU men’s and women’s swimming teams.IU swimming coach Ray Looze has appointed former in-house coaches Pam Swander and Mike Westphal to be assistant coaches of the women’s and men’s teams, respectively.“The new changes are part of a three-year plan,” Looze said. “We want to win the Big Ten title and be a top-10 program. We don’t want to just get there – we want to sustain it.”For both Swander and Westphal, when it comes down to business, it is a team effort. “It’s nice to have the camaraderie and collaboration,” Swander said. “With three other great minds who all think differently, we can come up with some pretty darn good ideas.”Westphal said the team works better together and that four brains are better than one.“We work hand-in-hand, we train together, so we become more potent as a staff,” Westphal said.Maintaining a track record of community service is also very important to Swander and the swim team, as IU ranked as No. 1 program last year in community service among all of the varsity teams at IU in what is called the CHAMPS challenge.For Looze, the decision to promote Swander and Westphal meant a change in structure.“They can help manage the teams with focus on swimming and academics, while I keep focused on the big picture,” Looze said. “The expectations absolutely increase.”Teaching work ethic, loyalty and accountability outlined the new philosophies.Swander previously helped lead the IU women’s team to its second Big Ten title in three years. She had worked the previous four years at IU with the middle-distance swimmers.Westphal is entering his seventh year at IU. He had previously worked with the distance swimmers. He helped lead the IU men’s team to a Big Ten title in 2006 and top-10 finish in the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships last year.
(04/30/09 4:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Former IU swimmer Gary Hall, Sr. received a nod from the United States Olympic Committee April 16 as a U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame Class of 2009 nominee. Other notable nominees include Michael Johnson, Teresa Edwards, Picabo Street and the 1992 Men’s Olympic Basketball Team. Hall, who swam for the Hoosiers during his undergraduate career, became the team’s captain his senior year, excelling in the individual medley. He won 13 conference crowns and eight NCAA titles with the Hoosiers. The North Carolina native medaled in three Olympic games and broke four Olympic records. His first medal came in the ’68 Games, where he took silver in the 400 medley as a high school student. Hall later captained the ’72 Olympics team and silvered in the 200 butterfly. Fans can visit www.teamusa.org until June 16 to vote on the 15 individuals, five Paralympians and five teams. The final Class of 2009 will consist of five individuals, one Paralympian and one team.
(04/27/09 3:38am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Seven IU women’s divers traveled to Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., this week to compete in the Speedo USA Diving National Championships, where senior Christina Loukas’ season-long trend of dominance continued. Loukas took national titles in the individual 1-meter springboard and the synchronized 3-meter springboard, where she paired with Purdue’s Amanda Miller. Loukas now has four USA Diving championships. “It’s good to see her continuing to improve and do things better than she did at the beginning of the season,” diving coach Jeff Huber said. Loukas, who won the NCAA Championship in the three-meter springboard, placed third in the event this weekend. Although she said she is pleased with her two titles, Loukas said she has more work to do.“I really just want to continue what I’ve been working on for the past couple months,” Loukas said. Other notable Hoosier performances included two fourth-place finishes by junior Brittney Feldman on the 1- and 3-meter springboards as well as junior Amy Korthauer’s sixth-place platform finish.
(04/23/09 4:02am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>U.S. Olympian and IU senior Christina Loukas won a national championship in the 1-meter springboard competition Thursday at the Speedo USA Diving Spring Nationals in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.But after a near-miss during her second-to-last dive, her victory was in jeopardy. Loukas’ lead was tenuous as she and second-place finisher Bianca Alvarez were separated by about one point heading into the fifth and last dive of the final round.“I knew it was really close, and we had the same degree of difficulty going into the last dive,” Loukas said. “I knew I had to hit it.”Once she hit the water, there was little doubt. “She just drilled it,” said IU diving coach Jeff Huber, who accompanied seven IU divers to the national competition. Loukas won the national championship by nearly nine points. “One-meter is hard,” Loukas said. “Everyone does the same exact dives, and everyone’s very capable of doing the dives very well.”But on Thursday, Loukas was that much better. “We had a good day,” Huber said. IU divers Brittany Feldman, a junior, and Gabby Agostino, a freshman, also qualified for the eight-woman final round. Feldman placed fourth and was one of two collegiate divers to qualify for the World University Games, to be held this summer. Agostino placed seventh.The win was Loukas’ third 1-meter national championship, having previously won back-to-back titles at the summer national competitions.Loukas won an NCAA Championship from the 3-meter springboard, her self-described preferred event. Loukas finished ninth in the Olympics on the 3-meter board, and she will get a shot at her first national championship in the event on Friday.
(04/22/09 1:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Seven participants from the IU women’s diving team will go to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., today for the USA Spring Diving Nationals meet. NCAA 3-meter springboard champion and senior Christina Loukas will close out her collegiate career in her final meet. She will compete in the 1- and 3-meter springboards as well as the 3-meter synchro with former Purdue diver Amanda Miller.Divers participating in the six-day meet compete for spots on the USA Diving National Team.The IU women’s diving team helped the school earn its second conference championship since 2007, as well as a 10th-place finish in the NCAA Championships.
(03/23/09 3:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In its final team meet of the season, the No. 13 IU women’s swimming and diving team placed 10th in this weekend’s NCAA Swim and Dive Championships at College Station, Texas. The Hoosiers accumulated 152 points, the program’s highest point total in an NCAA meet. With 411.5 points, No. 9 California took first, closely trailed by No. 2 Georgia and defending champion No. 4 Arizona. Led by senior Christina Loukas’ NCAA Championship-winning performance on the 3-meter springboards, IU had eight individual and three relay All-American winners. “I’m so happy we brought such a powerful and large team,” IU coach Ray Looze said. “We’re hungry people and are aggressive and want more regardless of how we do. I’m happy for the girls who worked really hard. Even though at times the meet was a bit rocky for us, the girls responded to adversity really well.” IU qualified 13 swimmers and three divers for the meet, which is the most women the team has ever taken to the NCAA Championships. In her third NCAA Championship, Loukas claimed her first title, shattering the NCAA record on the 3-meter springboard with a score of 437.75, 16.85 more than the former record. She also placed second on the 1-meter springboard and 11th on the platform. Loukas was also named the NCAA Diver of the Year. The Hoosiers began the meet on a shaky foot, claiming 12th place after the first day, but then slid up to 10th after the second day. “It started off a bit rocky. We had some performances that we weren’t real happy or satisfied with,” Looze said. A strong conclusion Saturday night, led by exemplary senior performances, cemented IU’s top 10 finish. Senior captains Allison Kay and Sarah Stockwell earned All-American accolades in the 1650-meter freestyle and the 200-meter breast stroke, respectively, with sixth and 12th place finishes. “Since I’m a senior, it was the last meet ever in my swimming career, and I gave it all I had,” Kay said. “Since it was the last meet, it was different. I guess it counted more in my eyes.” Kay’s time of 15:56.50 in the 1650-meter freestyle is a school record. Looze said he was pleased with the championship’s conclusion. “We finished as a team,” he said. “We started the meet as individuals for whatever reason, but finished as a team. When they came together as a team, they were really, really good. That is what I will remember about this season. “You have to put aside your personal agendas and get behind what everyone is doing collectively. When they did that, they were really special.” The Hoosiers, having accomplished their preseason goals of a conference title and an NCAA top 10 finish, now look to the program’s future. “I know our goal coming in was top five or seven,” freshman Margaux Farrell said. “I think we definitely proved we are a top 10 program. Next year will be the same thing. We want to be up there in those single-digit numbers.” Kay showed optimism as well. “Every year we have progressed. Last year we finished 10th – the year before 11th,” she said. “This year there were three freshmen in NCAAs. There will be even more next year.”
(03/22/09 5:52am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In its final team meet of the season, the No. 13 IU women’s swimming and diving team placed tenth in this weekend’s NCAA Swim and Dive Championships at College Station, Texas. The Hoosiers accumulated 152 points, the program’s highest point total in an NCAA meet. With 411.5 points, No. 9 California took first, closely trailed by No. 2 Georgia and defending champion No. 4 Arizona. Led by Christina Loukas’ NCAA Championship-winning performance on the 3-meter springboards, IU had eight individual, as well as three relay All-American winners. “I’m so happy we brought such a powerful and large team. We’re hungry people and are aggressive and want more regardless of how we do,” head coach Ray Looze said. “I’m happy for the girls who worked really hard. Even though at times the meet was a bit rocky for us, the girls responded to adversity really well.”– Check Monday's IDS for more on this story.
(03/20/09 3:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Senior Christina Loukas opened her final NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships by taking second place in the one-meter springboard.Loukas led the Hoosiers on day one of the meet with 339.8 points. Loukas is 11.35 points away from her first national title and will go after the three-meter title on Friday.“It was a great performance,” said head diving coach Jeff Huber. “She was one dive away from winning it, but that is the way our sport is. I like how she competed and how she stepped up. I am excited about tomorrow based on what I saw today.”
(03/14/09 2:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On day one of the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships in Minneapolis, four Hoosier divers earned spots to the NCAA Championships.Christina Loukas won the three-meter springboard competition, finishing with a 12-dive score of 736.65, beating out Purdue's Casey Mathews by more than 100 points, according to a press release. Brittney Feldman and Gabby Agostino finished in third and fourth place, respectively. Amy Korthauer placed eighth with 558.15 points.The Hoosiers led the three-meter springboard preliminaries, snatching four of the top seven spots. Loukas holds the top spot after six dives with 365.15 points, followed by Feldman (308.40), and Agostino (304.20). Korthauer placed seventh with 289.10 points. Christina Kouklakis finished 25th in the prelims with 173.60 points, according to the press release.The competition continues Saturday with the women’s one-meter and the men’s three-meter.
(03/13/09 4:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>In its final meet of the season, the youth-led IU men’s diving team has one last chance to make its mark on the national stage and qualify divers for the NCAA Championships. The Hoosiers will go to Minneapolis for the NCAA Zone C Diving meet. Teams from the Midwest region will participate in a host of events beginning Friday and continuing through Sunday. Since sophomore Landon Marzullo is the only IU diver with any NCAA Championship experience, IU coach Jeff Huber said he only expects a couple divers to advance. “We know the divers we have can score in NCAAs,” Huber said. “The pressure with the men is there are fewer spots. Anyone who qualifies this weekend will go to NCAAs and score.” Only eight men in the meet will earn a spot in the NCAA Championships, which will take place March 19 to 21 at College Station, Texas.– By Kevin Loughery
(03/06/09 5:41am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Every morning, senior Christina Loukas watches “Saved by the Bell” while she makes breakfast. In her free time, she enjoys baking and putting together puzzles. She is your average, everyday girl from Chicago’s north side. But one huge difference between Loukas and anyone else on this campus is a ninth-place finish on the 3-meter springboard at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. “I get kind of embarrassed when people point it out,” she said. “(My friends) thought it was cool their friend was an Olympian. I just don’t like it when people say, ‘This is my friend. She’s an Olympian.’ It is just kind of embarrassing.” Loukas, a former gymnast of nine years, started diving when she was 12 and has since become a Big Ten Champion and one of the most decorated divers in school history. She won the Olympic Trials in June to make the U.S. team. “Going into the Olympics, I knew exactly what to expect,” she said. “I knew who my competitors were and I knew there were going to be cameras everywhere. I dove at that pool before. That’s usually what I see at Big Tens and NCAAs.” Despite her confidence, she said she couldn’t help but relish the moment. “I wasn’t really thinking about the world watching me,” she said. “I was thinking more of me being in that moment, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m actually here. I made it.’” Being in the moment included time with the stars. Loukas, who dined just tables away from Yao Ming daily and became giddy at the sight of gymnast Shawn Johnson in the Olympic Village, went into fan mode outside of the pool. “I got to take a picture with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Chris Paul. I didn’t even know who he was when I met him, which is really embarrassing because he’s really good,” the curly-haired Cubs fan said. “We would see those people, and that’s when I felt like such a dork.” Regardless of how star-struck she was, Loukas’ efforts in her event earned 315.70 points, second among American divers at the games and ninth overall. Amid the settling dust that is Olympic aftermath, Loukas stepped back onto the springboard at IU’s Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center this fall for her final year of eligibility. Last season, she redshirted her senior year, taking only six credit hours a semester to focus on her Olympic dream. Last month, she scored 400.75 on the 3-meter at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich., setting a Big Ten Record in the event. Loukas was also named to the USA Diving 2009 World Championship team. “I’ve been here 20 years and have never seen a woman break 400,” diving coach Jeff Huber said, “so I knew it was a record without having to ask.” Huber, who recruited and trained Loukas her entire collegiate career, was a coach for the U.S. Olympic diving team as well. Future plans for Loukas include graduate school at IU, where she plans to train with Huber to make it in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Huber said some goals include becoming more lean, working on entry and mastering her front three-and-a-half as well as her two-and-a-half pike. “She’s very, very coachable, very bright and responds well,” Huber said. “If you give her a few things to work on, she gets the job done. She is everything you want to see in an athlete.” Loukas has had to make the adjustment back to being a normal collegiate diver after performing on the world stage. Caitlin Heyman, Loukas’ roommate and teammate, said Loukas still receives flowers and cards in the mail. “She’s still writing thank-you notes to people who have been sending her flowers,” Heyman said.Loukas has experienced a taste of the celebrity life in both her native Riverwoods, Ill., as well as in Bloomington. “I’m not that famous, but one thing I do make sure to do when I sign an autograph is to make my name legible because I always hated when I was little, these people would just scribble something,” she said. “So I just try to make sure you can totally tell it’s me.”
(03/06/09 4:57am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Every morning, senior Christina Loukas watches “Saved by the Bell” while she makes breakfast. In her free time, she enjoys baking and putting together puzzles. She is your average, everyday girl from Chicago’s north side. But one huge difference between Loukas and anyone else on this campus is a ninth-place finish on the 3-meter springboard at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. “I get kind of embarrassed when people point it out,” she said. “(My friends) thought it was cool their friend was an Olympian. I just don’t like it when people say, ‘This is my friend. She’s an Olympian.’ It is just kind of embarrassing.” Loukas, a former gymnast of nine years, started diving when she was 12 and has since become a Big Ten Champion and one of the most decorated divers in school history. She won the Olympic Trials in June to make the U.S. team. “Going into the Olympics, I knew exactly what to expect,” she said. “I knew who my competitors were and I knew there were going to be cameras everywhere. I dove at that pool before. That’s usually what I see at Big Tens and NCAAs.” Despite her confidence, she said she couldn’t help but relish the moment. “I wasn’t really thinking about the world watching me,” she said. “I was thinking more of me being in that moment, and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m actually here. I made it.’” Being in the moment included time with the stars. Loukas, who dined just tables away from Yao Ming daily and became giddy at the sight of gymnast Shawn Johnson in the Olympic Village, went into fan mode outside of the pool. “I got to take a picture with Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Chris Paul. I didn’t even know who he was when I met him, which is really embarrassing because he’s really good,” the curly-haired Cubs fan said. “We would see those people, and that’s when I felt like such a dork.” Regardless of how star-struck she was, Loukas’ efforts in her event earned 315.70 points, second among American divers at the games and ninth overall. Amid the settling dust that is Olympic aftermath, Loukas stepped back onto the springboard at IU’s Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center this fall for her final year of eligibility. Last season, she redshirted her senior year, taking only six credit hours a semester to focus on her Olympic dream. Last month, she scored 400.75 on the 3-meter at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich., setting a Big Ten Record in the event. Loukas was also named to the USA Diving 2009 World Championship team. “I’ve been here 20 years and have never seen a woman break 400,” diving coach Jeff Huber said, “so I knew it was a record without having to ask.” Huber, who recruited and trained Loukas her entire collegiate career, was a coach for the U.S. Olympic diving team as well. Future plans for Loukas include graduate school at IU, where she plans to train with Huber to make it in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London. Huber said some goals include becoming more lean, working on entry and mastering her front three-and-a-half as well as her two-and-a-half pike. “She’s very, very coachable, very bright and responds well,” Huber said. “If you give her a few things to work on, she gets the job done. She is everything you want to see in an athlete.” Loukas has had to make the adjustment back to being a normal collegiate diver after performing on the world stage. Caitlin Heyman, Loukas’ roommate and teammate, said Loukas still receives flowers and cards in the mail. “She’s still writing thank-you notes to people who have been sending her flowers,” Heyman said.Loukas has experienced a taste of the celebrity life in both her native Riverwoods, Ill., as well as in Bloomington. “I’m not that famous, but one thing I do make sure to do when I sign an autograph is to make my name legible because I always hated when I was little, these people would just scribble something,” she said. “So I just try to make sure you can totally tell it’s me.”
(03/02/09 5:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The No. 7 IU men’s swimming and diving team wrapped up the Big Ten Championships on Saturday in West Lafayette, where it finished fifth in the conference.The Hoosiers scored 449.5 points, 379.5 behind first-place No. 4 Michigan. No. 9 Ohio State placed second, followed by Minnesota and No. 14 Purdue.After holding a second-place tie with Minnesota the first night, IU dropped to fifth place Friday, where its position was solidified Saturday.“The way we finished the last day is the most important thing we did this meet,” IU coach Ray Looze said. “Going from second to fifth, we really could have laid down.”Despite two nights of lackluster performances, the Hoosiers finished the conference championship with positive attributes from young talent.Freshman Eric Ress, who arguably had the strongest showing for the Hoosiers all weekend, posted a handful of personal bests, including a pair of second place finishes in the 100- and 200-meter backstroke.“I had heard all the hype, I’d talked to alumni and I knew how special it is with how much emotion (the Big Ten Championship) evokes,” Ress said. “I couldn’t be happier with the way things went.”Ress’ time for the 200-meter backstroke broke Michael Phelps’ age group record in the event.“We had a really good last day,” Looze said. “That was the most important thing for us. If we had performed like that all week, we would have placed second.”Junior Aaron Opell also swam well Saturday, taking second in the 200-meter breaststroke Saturday night and setting a new lifetime best in the event. Opell said he was disappointed in this weekend’s performance but optimistic for the team’s future after Saturday night’s showing.“If you were to take the first two days, it might have been disheartening,” he said. “But if you take tonight into account, it was a good learning experience.”Sophomore diver Landon Marzullo continued a solid season with a second-place finish in the 1-meter springboard, as well as a fourth-place finish on the platform. Freshman diver Linus Altman-Kurosaki had a pair of fifth-place finishes on the 1- and 3-meter springboards. With only one guaranteed individual spot clinched in the NCAA Championships, the Hoosiers will have a time trial this week and partake in a last chance meet on Saturday to try to qualify for the national meet. Those athletes who do not make it to NCAAs will begin their offseason this week, Looze said.“We need to get a little bit tougher and be able to train at a high level,” Looze said. “Every year is a new year. Ours is going to start on Monday.”Those who do qualify will compete in the NCAA Championships later this month in College Station, Texas.
(03/01/09 3:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Upon completion of the Big Ten Championships in West Lafayette Saturday, No. 7 IU men’s swimming and diving team placed fifth with 449.5 points, 379.5 behind champion No. 4 Michigan. No. 9 Ohio State was second, followed by Minnesota and No. 14 Purdue. Despite two nights of struggle, coaches and swimmers alike agreed that Saturday night’s action was full of positives. “We had a really good last day. That was the most important thing for us,” IU coach Ray Looze said. “If we had performed like that all week, we would have placed second.” Junior Aaron Opell and freshman Eric Ress carried the Hoosiers Saturday night with a pair of second place finishes in the 200-back and 200-breast respectively. Ress broke Michael Phelps’ age group record in the event. “I had heard all the hype, I’d talked to alumni and I knew how special it is with how much emotion (Big Tens) evokes,” Ress said. “I couldn’t be happier with the way things went.” Having only one A cut for the NCAA Championships in March, the Hoosiers plan to time trial to get more swimmers into the national meet. “We have to try to get some more NCAA qualifiers,” Looze said. “Next is to get back and do some training.”
(02/28/09 8:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With one night remaining in the Big Ten Championships in West Lafayette, the IU men’s swimming and diving team eyes a best-case-scenario second place finish, but in order to do so, has its work cut out for it. Coming into Friday’s action, the No. 7 Hoosiers held a second place tie with No. 11 Minnesota at 154 points, while No. 4 Michigan held a comfortable lead. Once the events wrapped up Friday, Michigan ballooned its score to 588.5, increasing its lead to 231, and the Hoosiers found themselves slipping. No. 9 Ohio State holds second place, followed by Minnesota and No. 14 Purdue. At 285.5, IU is 72 points out of second. Freshman Eric Ress continued his strong showing at Big Tens with a second place finish in the 100-back. Ress posted two career bests Thursday in the 500-free. The Big Ten Championships wrap up Saturday with preliminaries and finals in the 200-back, 100-free, 200-breast, 200-fly, 1650-free, 400-free and platform diving. Preliminaries begin at noon, finals at 7 p.m.
(02/27/09 4:07am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After the first night of the Big Ten Championships in West Lafayette, the No. 7 IU men’s swimming and diving team finds itself in a second place tie with No. 11 Minnesota. Down 123.5 to No. 4 Michigan, it is now a battle for second place with the Gophers, according to IU coach Ray Looze. Both teams have 154 points. “Realistically we are fortunate to be where we are. We are swimming for second place now,” Looze said. “We need to be concerned with ourselves. Michigan has the best team here, and they proved that tonight.” IU followed a strong morning preliminary session with somewhat of a lackluster finals session. With the exception of senior captain Matt Lenton’s third place effort in the 50 free, IU scored no higher than fifth in any swimming event. “We’re in a battle, that’s for sure,” Looze said. “We told the guys to come out swinging tomorrow.” Friday’s events begin at noon with 400-IM, 100-butterfly, 200-free, 100-breast, 100-back and three-meter diving preliminaries. Finals begin at 7 p.m.
(02/26/09 5:24am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Although the IU men’s swimming and diving team has not competed since Feb. 7, in preparation for this weekend’s Big Ten Championships its three senior captains have been anything but quiet. “We are going to win Big Tens,” Heath Tameris said Monday at the team’s final practice before going to West Lafayette. He later added, “We are taking over this conference.” Justin Peterfish agreed. “We will be champions if we do what we need to get done,” Peterfish said. “I see us walking away with a title this week.” Even Matt Lenton had a prediction. “I have told my team that I have 100 percent confidence we are going to win this weekend,” Lenton said. “That is going to be the result.” Those who follow Big Ten swimming and diving know that No. 7 IU is no favorite for the conference crown, considering that six of the 11 teams in the Big Ten are ranked nationally. The most notable foe, as IU coach Ray Looze pointed out, is No. 4 Michigan, who beat the Hoosiers twice this season.“We got spanked,” Looze said. “But you go up against the best schools for a reason. They have to show up and so do we.” IU lost to the Wolverines 227-151 Nov. 1 in Ann Arbor, Mich., and 176-104 Jan. 10 in Bloomington.The captains said they are not arrogant. Instead, their attitude serves to feed confidence to their teammates. They said the challenge is getting the smash-mouth mentality to drive the team’s physical ability.“We are not favored at all,” Tameris said. “Outside the 30 or so people going with us to Big Tens, no one believes it. So the more we talk about it, the more we are preparing to win.” Looze said the captains’ confidence will be instrumental for the team’s psyche when the three-day meet starts Thursday night. “It’s the most important thing,” he said. “It doesn’t matter what the coaches think.” Despite IU’s recent history against Michigan, the captains said they have good reason to believe they will give a strong showing and that their confident attitude is no act. Tameris said each team is only allowed 21 swimmers and five divers to compete in the conference championship. As of Saturday morning, four spots needed filling, so the team held an eight-man, four-event swim-off. “Each guy put up scores that would place top eight at Big Tens,” Tameris said. “And those are our bottom four. Yes, we lost to Michigan twice this year, but we are swimming lights-out.” Lights-out could be useful, considering IU is unfamiliar with this year’s in-conference competition. The only other Big Ten schools they faced this season were No. 9 Ohio State, Northwestern and No. 14 Purdue. The Hoosiers were victorious in all three meets. Regardless of this season’s successes and failures, the captains are sure IU’s past is behind them, and what they bring to Big Tens is all that matters. “It really comes down to how we are going to approach this meet,” Lenton said. “Character is what is going to come through at the end of the day.”
