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(01/25/13 5:46am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s swimming and diving team will face another in-state rival at noon Saturday in West Lafayette against Purdue .The competition will be aired live on the Big Ten Network. “Both teams want to do whatever they can to win,” senior swimmer Ashley Specht said. “In the past, both teams have swam very fast because they know they have the pressure of people watching.” Coming off of a win against Notre Dame last weekend, the Hoosiers hope to keep the momentum as they head into their match against the Boilermakers. The IU women will not only get to compete under the lights, but they will also get the opportunity to learn their competition for the upcoming Big Ten Championships in March. Although the Hoosiers face many daunting challenges, including the heightened pressure that comes with competing against Purdue and the lack of home pool advantage, the swimmers said they choose to focus on the positives.“They have some very fast girls and it will be interesting to see how our girls react,” Specht said. “I think that if we start off strong, then we will easily sweep away with a win.”The Purdue swimming and diving team won 14 of 16 events in their most current competition against Michigan State Jan. 12. “Purdue has beaten us the past several times in a row so we know what’s coming there,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “We are going to have to be really ready to go and prepared for their best shots.” The Hoosiers will have to step up particularly in the sprint events. Representing the Purdue women at the Michigan State meet, Laura Gustafson won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.64 and the 100-yard freestyle in 50.88.Last weekend, IU junior Sara Delay won the 50 free with a time of 23.37, just .27 faster than Gustafson’s time. Freshman Brooklyn Snodgrass will help add to IU’s depth as she continues to dominate in backstroke events. Snodgrass earned her third Big Ten weekly award Tuesday after her performance against Notre Dame. In the 100-yard backstroke, she placed first with a time of 54.21, a NCAA B-Cut. Snodgrass picked up another first place in the 200-yard backstroke after touching the wall at 1:56.32, also a NCAA B-Cut.Aside from the backstroke events, IU and Purdue are expected to have close races in the butterfly events and relays.Compared to Purdue’s Rihannon Sheets’ final time of 2:00.92 in the 200-yard butterfly against Michigan State, freshman Haley Lips touched the wall at 2:00.86. Lips ended with a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterly and a time of 55.81 against Notre Dame, while Sheets placed first with a time of 55.97. Despite the roadblocks to an IU victory presented by Purdue, the women hope to carry their team spirit and distinct abilities to West Lafayette and clench a win.
(01/25/13 5:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s swimming and diving team will face another in-state rival at 12 p.m. Saturday in West Lafayette against Purdue.The competition will be aired live on the Big Ten Network. “Both teams want to do whatever they can to win,” senior swimmer Ashley Specht said. “In the past, both teams have swam very fast because they know they have the pressure of people watching.” Coming off of a win against Notre Dame last weekend, the Hoosiers hope to keep the momentum as they head into their match against the Boilermakers. The IU women will not only get to compete under the lights, but they will also get the opportunity to learn their competition for the upcoming Big Ten Championships in March. Although the Hoosiers face many daunting challenges, including the heightened pressure that comes with competing against Purdue and the lack of home pool advantage, the swimmers said they choose to focus on the positives.“They have some very fast girls and it will be interesting to see how our girls react,” Specht said. “I think that if we start off strong, then we will easily sweep away with a win.”The Purdue swimming and diving team won 14 of 16 events in their most current competition against Michigan State Jan. 12. “Purdue has beaten us the past several times in a row so we know what’s coming there,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “We are going to have to be really ready to go and prepared for their best shots.” The Hoosiers will have to step up particularly in the sprint events. Representing the Purdue women at the Michigan State meet, Laura Gustafson won the 50-yard freestyle in 23.64 and the 100-yard freestyle in 50.88.Last weekend, IU sophomore Sara Delay won the 50 free with a time of 23.37, just .27 faster than Gustafson’s time. Freshman Brooklyn Snodgrass will help add to IU’s depth as she continues to dominate in backstroke events. Snodgrass earned her third Big Ten weekly award Tuesday after her performance against Notre Dame. In the 100-yard backstroke, she placed first with a time of 54.21, a NCAA B-Cut. Snodgrass picked up another first place in the 200-yard backstroke after touching the wall at 1:56.32, also a NCAA B-Cut.Aside from the backstroke events, IU and Purdue are expected to have close races in the butterfly events and relays.Compared to Purdue’s Rihannon Sheets’ final time of 2:00.92 in the 200-yard butterfly against Michigan State, freshman Haley Lips touched the wall at 2:00.86. Lips ended with a second-place finish in the 100-yard butterly and a time of 55.81 against Notre Dame, while Sheets placed first with a time of 55.97. Despite the roadblocks to an IU victory presented by Purdue, the women hope to carry their team spirit and distinct abilities to West Lafayette and clinch a win.
(01/21/13 8:39pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A few breakout performances and a new school record later, the IU swimming and diving team added three victories to its record Saturday afternoon.The 22nd-ranked women’s team defeated No. 19 Notre Dame 175-125, while the No. 10 Hoosier men’s team bested No. 18 Iowa 172-126 and No. 6 Ohio State by a mere two points, with a final score of 150-148, at the Councilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.Junior diver Darian Schmidt beat his own school record in the 3-meter springboard by less than one point. A score of 460.2 was good to win the meet’s event and surpass his previous record of 459.3 set in the 2012 Big Ten Championships.“All the credit goes to my coaches because of all the time they have put in,” Schmidt said. “They are the hardest-working coaches in the country.” IU Diving Coach Jeff Huber said it was no shock Schmidt beat the record.“A couple of days ago in practice, he had a breakout practice where he was doing some stuff we’ve been working on for a long time so it wasn’t a surprise that he set the record,” Huber said.The Hoosier men dominated the 1-meter springboard competition, taking the top four spots. Earning a score of 403.58 points, senior Mick Dell’Orco took first place as Schmidt placed second with 395.48 points. Junior Bryce Ogden finished with 395.18 points and picked up third place, while junior Emad Abdelatif was fourth (394.68).“Some of our most experienced guys struggled today and they’d be the first to admit that, and we still grinded out a victory,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “We had several guys step up who have not stepped up in their IU careers.” Senior Daniel Kanorr was among the many who stepped up and contributed to the Hoosier men’s victories. In the 50-yard freestyle, Kanorr placed first with a time of 20.12, a NCAA B Cut time. With a time of 44.94, Kanorr added a second place finish in the 100 freestyle.Senior Matt Gerth placed high in the 200 free as he touched the wall in second place (1:38.76), just behind Iowa’s Jordan Huff. Junior James Wells stepped up for the Hoosiers and picked up a first-place finish in the men’s 100-yard backstroke race with a time of 47.67, a NCAA B-Cut. Junior Eric Ress placed third in the event with a time of 48.68.On the women’s side, sophomore Sara Delay placed first in the 50-yard freestyle (23.37) and anchored the winning 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays. Her 50-free victory was the first individual event she had won since sat out the 2011-12 season after having her colon removed.“It’s been a really tough season, but I finally came back after having setbacks with having issues with having my ostomy surgery,” Delay said. “I feel a lot stronger and the workouts are coming along.”In the 1,000-yard freestyle, freshman Taylor O’Brien finished first in 10:00.37, followed by freshman Haley Lips (10:08.66). Junior Lindsay Vrooman picked up a win in the 200 free after leading wall-to-wall, earning a time of 1:48.58.With a time of 54.21, freshman Brooklyn Snodgrass placed first in the 100-yard backstroke and earned a NCAA B Cut.The Hoosier women will next compete noon Saturday at Purdue. The meet will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. The men do not have another meet until Feb. 1, when the team will travel to Louisville, Ky., to compete against No. 16 Louisville.
(01/20/13 6:31pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A few breakout performances and a new school record later, the IU swimming and diving team added three victories to its record Saturday afternoon. The 22nd-ranked women’s team defeated No. 19 Notre Dame 175-125, while the No. 10 Hoosier men bested No. 18 Iowa, 172-126, and No. 6 Ohio State by a mere two points, with a final score of 150-148, at the Councilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. Junior diver Darian Schmidt beat his own school record in the 3-meter springboard by less than one point. A score of 460.2 was good to win the meet's event and surpass his previous record of 459.3 set in the 2012 Big Ten Championships.“All the credit goes to my coaches because of all the time they have put in,” Schmidt said. “They are the hardest working coaches in the country.” For IU Diving Coach Jeff Huber, it was no shock Schmidt beat the record.“A couple of days ago in practice, he had a breakout practice where he was doing some stuff we’ve been working on for a long time so it wasn’t a surprise that he set the record,” Huber said. The Hoosier men dominated the 1-meter springboard competition, taking the top four spots. Earning a score of 403.58 points, senior Mick Dell’Orco took first place with Schmidt placing second with 395.48 points. Redshirt junior Bryce Ogden finished with 395.18 points and picked up third place, while junior Emad Abdelatif was fourth (394.68).“Some of our most experienced guys struggled today and they’d be the first to admit that and we still grinded out a victory,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “We had several guys step up who have not stepped up in their IU careers.” Senior Daniel Kanorr was among the many who stepped up and contributed to the Hoosier men’s victories. In the 50-yard freestyle, Kanorr placed first with a time of 20.12, a NCAA B Cut time. With a time of 44.94, Kanorr added a second place finish in the 100 freestyle. Also placing high for the men was senior Matt Gerth in the 200 free as he touched the wall in second place (1:38.76), just behind Iowa’s Jordan Huff. Junior James Wells stepped up for the Hoosiers and picked up a first-place finish in the men’s 100-yard backstroke race with a time of 47.67, a NCAA B-Cut. Junior Eric Ress placed third in the event with a time of 48.68. On the women’s side, sophomore Sara Delay placed first in the 50-yard freestyle (23.37) and anchored the winning 200-yard medley and 400-yard freestyle relays. Her 50-free victory was the first individual event she had won since sat out the 2011-12 season after having her colon removed. “It’s been a really tough season, but I finally came back after having setbacks with having issues with having my ostomy surgery,” junior Sara Delay said. “I feel a lot stronger and the workouts are coming along.” In the 1,000-yard freestyle, Taylor O’Brien finished first in 10:00.37, followed by freshman Haley Lips (10:08.66). Junior Lindsay Vrooman picked up a win in the 200 free after leading wall-to-wall, earning a time of 1:48.58. With a time of 54.21, freshman Brooklyn Snodgrass placed first in the 100-yard backstroke and earned a NCAA B Cut. The Hoosier women will next compete at Purdue on Saturday, Jan. 26 at noon. The meet will be televised on the Big Ten Network. The men do not have another meet until Feb. 1, when the team will travel to Louisville, Ky., to compete against No. 16 Louisville.
(01/17/13 8:19pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will face three competitors at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Councilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.The Hoosier men will be pitted against the Ohio State Buckeyes and the Iowa Hawkeyes in a double-dual meet, while the Hoosier women will compete against Notre Dame. “Our team wants to win the meet and stay tough in our races,” junior Lindsay Vrooman said. “This will be our first meet in a while so it’s going to be very hard for a lot of us, but as long as we stay mentally and physically tough throughout the meet I’m sure we’ll all be happy with our perfomance.” Although Notre Dame has some fast women, team depth and a shared enthusiasm to compete will be an advantage for the IU women’s team. “We have done a really good job swimming fast in season thus far,” senior Ashley Specht said. “Girls are posting times that we would usually see in taper meets.” Not only are the swimmers prepared to add some wins to the record this weekend, but the IU divers also trained intensely during winter break for the meet and the remainder of the season. In addition to IU competing at home, the men have a bigger diving team than OSU and Iowa combined. Compared to OSU’s six divers and Iowa’s seven, IU has 13 divers on the roster.By avoiding travelling and the adjusting to the facilities, the Hoosier swimmers and divers face few disadvantages when competing at home. “Our biggest weakness right now is going to be our energy level for the weekend,” senior Mick Dell’Orco said. “We’ve been putting in a lot of hours and really ramped up the intensity over break.”Vrooman said the training was an integral part of the goal-making process. “Our winter break training will definitely reflect on our performance at Big Tens and NCAAs,” Vrooman said. “Our team goals still stayed the same, and winter break training was a good time to remind ourselves of those goals.” Veteran swimmers like Vrooman and Specht paired with a deep freshman class have established a strong women’s team this year. “I can’t even describe to you how awesome this group of girls are,” Specht said. “We all walk into practice with a smile on our face and we all want to train fast.”On the men’s side, sophomore Steve Schmuhl returns from a successful winter break. Schmuhl finished 12th in the 400-meter individual medley Dec. 13 at the 2012 World Short Course Championships in Istanbul, Turkey. Redshirt senior Jim Barbiere is also set to compete in an international competition beginning on July 10 in the 2013 World University Games in Kazan, Russia. The IU men’s swimming and diving team’s next competition will be at 5 p.m. Feb. 2 in Louisville, Ky., while the women’s team will compete against the Boilermakers at noon Jan. 26 in West Lafayette.
(01/10/13 4:27am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A lack of international swimming experience has factored little in the competitive nature of one IU swimmer. Sophomore Steve Schmuhl posted a top-15 finish in the 400-meter individual medley during finals week at the 2012 FINA World Short Course Championships in Istanbul. “I roomed with Garrett Weber-Gale, who was part of the famous 400 free relay in Beijing,” Schmuhl said. “It was a little daunting at first, especially since a lot of the guys were in their late twenties and I am still a teenager, but it was an awesome environment.”As the third-youngest top-15 finisher, Schmuhl narrowly missed a chance to perform in the championship final. With his 12th-place finish and a time of 4:10.38, the Hoosier swimmer was less than two seconds greater than the cutoff. The turnover from studying and taking final exams to flying the more than 5,500 miles to Istanbul proved to be stressful for Schmuhl, who had to take three finals the day before he left for the competition. “I basically became a hermit in the weeks leading up to my departure,” Schmuhl said. “I had to take one final when I got back, but I ended up doing very well on the semester and got a 3.1 GPA.”Despite the duress of finals and age gap between Schmuhl and the other competitors, the international experience is another successful race under Schmuhl’s belt. “He needs to continue to get experiences like that and to remain consistent and take the success that he attained in Turkey and use it as a springboard instead of something that will set him back,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. Along with qualifying for the U.S. Short Course Championship team at the U.S. Open in August, the Broomfield, Colo., native also placed 11th in the 400 individual medley at the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials. Schmuhl’s time at the Short Course World Championships was about eight seconds faster than his time at the U.S. Open, which was 4:18.74. “I know there are still some technical things in my breaststroke to work out before Big Tens and NCAAs, but I’m confident that I can get those kinks all smoothed out before championship season,” Schmuhl said. In his freshman year at IU, Schmuhl competed at the NCAA Championships in the 400 individual medley relay with a time of 3:11.07 and a 13th place finish, which earned him All-American honors. “The most important thing is what he does on a daily basis to perform at a consistent level,” Looze said. “Getting consistency and sticking with it is what he needs to continue to work on.” Schmuhl is not the only Hoosier representing the IU swimming and diving program overseas, as senior Jim Barbiere is also preparing to compete in an international event. Barbiere was named one of the 39 members of Team USA, which will participate in the 2013 World University Games in Kazan, Russia. The swimming competition is scheduled for July 10-16. For his fifth-place finish at the U.S. Open in the 200 freestyle, Barbiere earned a spot on Team USA as a member of the 4x200 freestyle relay. Schmuhl, Barbiere and the rest of the Hoosier men will take on Ohio State and Iowa at 11 a.m. Jan. 19 in a home double-dual meet.
(12/06/12 2:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>They say Rome wasn’t built in a day, and neither is a Big Ten and NCAA Champion swimming program. IU Coach Ray Looze said this year’s group of freshmen have had no choice but to step up, with the loss of a huge, successful senior class last year, including French Olympian Margaux Farrell, 2011 Team USA member Allysa Vavra, Brittany Strumbel, Laura Head, Katelyn Ishee, Kristen Mitsch, Courey Schaefer, Kim Tracey and Nikki White. Two leading ladies, Brooklyn Snodgrass and Haley Lips have done exactly that for the Hoosier women’s team by establishing themselves as pivotal point scorers this season. Along with Alexis Bullard, Shelby Carroll, Siri Kristiansen, Allie Lamberson, Sarah Lewis, Madeline Maher, Taylor O’Brien and Rachel Thompson, the freshmen class has contributed to the IU victories that have helped maintain the high level of performance last year’s senior class produced.“I think we are better with the addition of this freshmen class, and I think we have a chance to be a better team because these freshmen girls are swimming like they are veterans,” Looze said. “The girls that we graduated last year, we took really several years to develop them.”Heading into the 2012-13 season, IU’s swimming and diving team lost three of the team’s major point contributors. At the 2012 Big Ten Championships, Vavra, Strumbel and Farrell combined to score 235 out of the team’s 651-point total, more than one-third of the team’s production. Vavra also scored 36 points individually at the 2012 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. Farrell went on to earn a bronze medal as part of the 4x200-meter freestyle relay team at the 2012 London Olympics. Snodgrass has already achieved several merits, earning the Big Ten Swimmer and Freshman of the Week after her victories in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke events in the double-dual meet against Texas and Michigan.With times of 53.20 and 1:53.97, the Canadian native currently has the best times in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke, respectively, in the Big Ten conference. At the 2012 AT&T Winter National Championships on Saturday, Snodgrass earned a top-five finish in the 200-yard backstroke. “To get in there and make an A final unshaved is a real nice feather in the cap for anybody, whether they be upperclassmen or freshmen,” Looze said.Ranked third in the conference in the 200-yard butterfly and in the top 20 in three other events, Lips has also added to the Hoosiers’ depth. “The atmosphere is great, and it is nice to have people around me to push me to be the best I can be,” Lips said.Out of the first three intercollegiate meets Snodgrass and Lips have swum in, they have finished outside of the top five in individual events on only a combined three occasions.“The fact that they can be impactful at the NCAA level their freshman year gives me a lot of reason for optimism,” Looze said. “We are still a rebuilding team, but there is a lot of promise on the horizon.” For the women’s distance group, O’Brien has been influential so far this season. Currently, O’Brien has a Big Ten top time in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 16:28.58, as well as the seventh top time in the 1000-yard freestyle at a time of 9:59.78 and 14th in the 500 free with a time of 4:49.12.With a time of 1:02.98 in the 100 breaststroke, Maher currently has the 15th top time in the conference and the sixth top time in the 200 breaststroke.Although the freshman squad is already performing at a high level at double-dual meets and nationals, Looze said the most important time for them to perform will be at the Big Tens and NCAAs. The freshmen are on the right track to represent the Hoosier swimming program by the end of the season, but there are a few training for more individually-oriented meets. Snodgrass will be competing at the World Championship Trials for Canada after the Big Ten Championships and the NCAA meet. Both Snodgrass and Lips, combined with the other members of the 2012-13 freshmen group, have already scored major points for the IU swim team and hope to continue to make an impact.“Athletics is such a fluid endeavor that it’s hard to predict the future, but if they stay consistent and have a clear, steady approach and don’t let their emotions get too low or too high, really good things can happen for them in the future,” Looze said.
(12/03/12 4:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s and women’s swimming teams came out of the AT&T Winter Nationals with five top-five finishes Saturday night.The competition was at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center in Austin, Texas.After the first day of competition, the Hoosiers placed multiple top 10 finishes, one of which came in the 200 freestyle relay. Freshman Brooklyn Snodgrass, junior Bronwyn Pasloski and sophomores Justine Ress and Cynthia Pammett touched the wall with a time of 1:32.40 to finish seventh overall in the event.In the 400 medley relay, Snodgrass, senior Ashley Specht, freshman Haley Lips and Pammett combined to place sixth with a time of 3:38.42, while juniors James Wells, Cody Miller and Eric Ress and senior Daniel Kanorr placed fifth for the men with 3:14.86.Placing sixth and achieving an NCAA B cut, junior Lindsay Vrooman touched the wall with a time of 4:43.35 in the 500 freestyle. Senior Jim Barbiere placed 13th and also earned an NCAA B cut in the 500 freestyle with a time of 4:23.84.Snodgrass raced to 23rd in the 200-yard individual medley with 2:00.08, an NCAA B cut,, while Pammett finished 27th in 2:01.58.A time of 1:45.51 for Miller in the 200 individual medley was good for 10th place and a NCAA B cut. Earning an NCAA provisional mark, Ress placed 23rd in 1:48.37 in the bonus final.With one Hoosier swimmer in each of the 50-yard freestyle races, Ress took 53rd for the women (23.85), and Kanorr took 34th for the men (20.47).On the second day of competition, Snodgrass, 1:53.97, NCAA B cut, and Eric Ress, 1:42.72, NCAA B cut, both had fourth-place finishes in the 200 backstroke.In the 1,650-yard freestyle, Vrooman clocked in at 15:56.81 earning a third-place finish and an NCAA B cut. Freshman Taylor O’Brien placed 11th with a time of 16:28.58, also an NCAA B cut. With a provisional time of 1:58.14, junior Brenna MacLean took fourth in the 200 butterfly and was followed by Lips in ninth, 1:57.45, NCAA B cut. In the 200 breaststroke, Miller came out with a fifth-place finish, 1:54.89, NCAA B cut.With their sights on making the Big Ten conference squad, the Hoosier swimmers hope to use their experience at the Winter Nationals to indicate their strengths and weaknesses.“As a whole, the team is trying to work on the little things consistently so we can make these changes in time for the end of the season,” Eric Ress said.The Big Ten conference meet is the third week of February for the women and the fourth week of February for the men.The IU swimming teams are completed with competitions for this year but will be back in action at home Jan. 19, 2013. The men will face Ohio State and Iowa in a dual meet, and the women will face Notre Dame.
(11/30/12 4:09am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU swimming and diving team will head to Columbus, Ohio, to compete in the OSU Invitational Friday through Monday.With the preliminaries beginning at 11 a.m. Friday, participants will compete in the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, 400 medley relay, men’s one-meter diving and women’s three-meter diving as part of the first day’s events. The finals for these races will start at 6 p.m.On Saturday, the event lineup includes the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 200 medley relay, men’s three-meter diving and women’s one-meter diving. Preliminaries begin at 10 a.m., and finals start at 5 p.m.For the Hoosiers’ final day of competition, the schedule includes the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 1,650 freestyle, 400 freestyle relay and platform diving with prelims beginning at 9 a.m. and finals starting at 3 p.m.“The kids we are sending there are going to have to work really hard to get second place finishes, and that’s what I expect,” IU Coach Ray Looze said.Coming off two victories against No. 23 Penn State and No. 9 Virginia, the Hoosier men are ranked No. 7 according to the latest College Swim Coaches Association of America top 25. With their only losses coming against No. 1 Michigan and No. 4 Texas, the Hoosiers are currently 4-2 on the season.Although the Hoosiers will face competitors including No. 5 Florida, No. 10 Ohio State, Wisconsin and North Carolina, Looze expects his swimmers to have seasonal best times and establish themselves within the Big Ten Conference.In a most recent CSCAA poll, the IU women were ranked No. 14. However, the team added a pair of losses to its season record after losing to No. 10 Virginia and Penn State.While many top-placing swimmers on both the women’s and men’s side will be in Austin, Texas, competing in the USA Winter Swimming Nationals, Looze expects the remaining swimmers to come back from OSU with championship finals, A finals and B finals and second swims.Brooklyn Snodgrass, Madeline Maher, Taylor O’Brien and Haley Lips will represent the freshman class at nationals, while sophomores Dorina Szekeres and Cynthia Pammett, juniors Cody Miller, Eric Ress, Bronwyn Pasloski and Lindsay Vrooman, along with seniors Jim Barbiere and Ashley Specht, are just a few of the leading point scorers to compete in Texas this weekend.Live results can be found at ohiostatebuckeyes.com/livestats/m-swim/.
(11/29/12 3:50am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Juniors Eric Ress and Cody Miller will lead a small group of IU swimmers in Austin, Texas, for the USA Swimming Winter Nationals beginning today and ending Saturday.Particularly challenging for the Hoosiers as they head into this competition is the increased talent that will be present in the pool, IU Coach Ray Looze said.He said the IU swimmers will be up against tapered, shaved and reenergized athletes.“A well-rested athlete is always dangerous to an athlete in full training, and that’s where our swimmers are at this point,” Looze said.Not only is the meet a chance for the IU swimmers to compete against a versatile field, but it is also an opportunity for IU coaches to scout for recruitments because of the various club teams that will compete, Looze said.Other Hoosiers competing in the meet include 2012 Olympic participant sophomore Dorina Szekeres and recipient of All-American honors in the 500 freestyle and the 400 medley relay, senior Jim Barbiere.Brooklyn Snodgrass, Haley Lips, Taylor O’Brien and Madeline Maher will represent the women’s team freshman class, while Tanner Kurz is the lone male freshman to perform at nationals this weekend.“Without much rest and coming off of break, it’s going to be hard, but this meet is going to be a challenge for a lot of us,” junior Lindsay Vrooman said. “Some of this summer’s past Olympians will be competing, so it will be a good racing experience.”The remainder of the IU swimming and diving team will participate this weekend in the OSU Invitational in Columbus, Ohio.The Hoosiers will be pitted against fierce competitors including the men’s current No. 5 Florida, No. 10 Ohio State and No. 17 North Carolina.“We are going to see some fast times from both teams, either going to Texas or OSU, even though we are not tapering for this meet, but I believe that spending some time with our family or friends over the Thanksgiving break gave us some extra strength to carry on until Christmas break,” Szekeres said.
(11/16/12 5:03am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will compete against the Penn State Nittany Lions and Virginia Cavaliers at their first home meet of the 2012-13 season Friday and Saturday at the Councilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.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 firsthand 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 at 5 p.m. Friday. The divers are scheduled to compete in the women’s 1-meter springboard and the men’s 3-meter springboard.At 11 a.m. Saturday, 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.“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. 30.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.For the men’s team, Schmuhl has contributed to Indiana’s depth with two NCAA provisional cuts in the 200 backstroke and 200 butterfly, along with junior Cody Miller, who started the season off with NCAA B cuts in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, and junior James Wells, who 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 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 Virginia 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 (junior) Darian Schmidt to do well this weekend. He has been lights out in practice, and I also wouldn’t be surprised to see (senior) Casey Johnson be a top finisher for us.” Schmidt, an All-American diver, 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 semester at the USA Swimming Winter Nationals from Nov. 29 to Dec. 1 and the OSU Invitational from Nov. 30 to Dec.3.
(10/29/12 3:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams competed against Texas and Michigan Friday and Saturday at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.The women’s team defeated the Wolverines 223-77 and fell to the Longhorns 172-128, while the men’s team dropped both matches, falling to No. 5 Texas 185-115, and to No. 2 Michigan 223-77.First place finishers for the women’s team included junior Lindsay Vrooman (1,000 freestyle, 9:45.42 and 500 freestyle, 4:48.85), sophomore Cynthia Pammett (200 freestyle, 1:48.90) and freshman Brooklyn Snodgrass (100 backstroke, 54.14 and 200 backstroke, 1:56.05).In both of Snodgrass’ backstroke events, the Hoosier freshman remained undefeated.“We are strong in backstroke yet lack depth,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “If the freshmen develop quickly, we will have the depth we need to be successful at the conference meet.”Freshman Haley Lips posted a second-place finish in the 200 butterfly, touching the wall at 1:59.22. Junior Brenna MacLean followed in third with a time of 2:01.82.Adding on to a victory in the 200 freestyle, Pammett took second place in the 200 backstroke (1:57.94) behind Snodgrass. Sophomore Allie Day took third (2:00.64), rounding out a Hoosier 1-2-3 sweep in the event.Senior Ashley Specht placed second overall in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:01.84.In the 100 freestyle, junior Stephanie Armstrong took third place, posting a time of 51:62, while junior Sara Delay placed third (23.70) in the 50 freestyle event. Vrooman touched the wall in 1:49.99 to place third in the 200 freestyle.The team of Snodgrass, Specht, Lips and sophomore Justine Ress combined for a time of 1:42.72 in the 200 medley relay, placing second.In the 200 breaststroke, freshman Madeline Maher placed second (2:15.79).Finishing third in the 100 butterfly in 54.89, Lips earned her third top-three finish of the day in the 100 butterfly, finishing third in 54.89. Her fourth top-three finish of the day came when she placed second in the 400 individual medley (4:19.51).Clocking in at 3:22.35, IU took third in the 400-freestyle relay with Pammett, Snodgrass, Armstrong and Vrooman.For the women divers, senior Amy Cozad placed third on the 1-meter springboard with a score of 284.40 and also took third in the 3-meter event posting a score of 326.65.The men’s team fell to both Texas and Michigan.“Of course there is pressure to do well in the collegiate season, but in the grand scheme of things, rankings are just numbers,” sophomore Steve Schmuhl said. “We don’t want to get wrapped up in things that we have little control over.”In the 1,000 freestyle, senior Ryan Downey was the top Hoosier finisher, touching the wall with a time of 9:31.75.Junior Cody Miller was a second-place finisher in both the 100 breaststroke (55.26) and the 200 breaststroke (1:58.96).A team of junior Eric Ress, Miller, Schmuhl and senior Daniel Knorr combined to finish third in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:29.71.Placing second in the 100 backstroke, junior James Wells posted a time of 48.37, while Ress was fourth with a time of 48.60.Senior Jim Barbiere was sixth in the 200 freestyle posting a time of 1:38.45, placed fifth in the 100 free with a time of 45.63 and finished fourth in the 500 freestyle in 4:26.54.In the 200 backststroke, Ress and Schmuhl went 2-3 with Ress posting a time of 1:45.66 and Schmuhl touching the wall in 1:46.12.Schmuhl raced to his third top-three finish of the night as he placed second in the 400 individual medley (3:54.50), while Ress was seventh (4:00.49).For the IU men’s divers, senior Casey Johnson finished third on the 3-meter springboard (343.60), with junior Darian Schmidt fifth (313.85) and senior Mick Dell’Orco sixth (312.70). Schmidt placed fourth (318.45) on the 1-meter board followed by Dell’Orco in sixth (297.45) and Johnson seventh (289.05).In the 400 freestyle relay, the team of Barbiere, Kanorr, Wells and Miller finished seventh posting a time of 3:04.64.The Hoosiers will compete against Penn State and Virginia in a double dual meet at home on Nov. 16 and 17.
(10/26/12 4:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A Muncie native, former Hoosier swimmer Lary Schulhof is one of seven honorees who will be inducted into the IU Athletics Hall of Fame at its annual dinner Nov. 2.As a member of the IU swimming team from 1962-64, Schulhof was a student working on attaining his doctorate in neurosurgery and a member of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity.Schulhof had many commitments and obligations to a variety of people and organizations during his collegiate career. If he wanted to be a successful athlete and student, Schulhof said he had no choice between sleeping, studying, partying and training.“I think a lot of people had a lot of different activities, and I was just like them, and I really had to budget my time,” Schulhof said.With workouts from 6 to 8 a.m. and 4 to 6 p.m., Schulhof would return from practice and grab a late meal with the other athletes at the SAE house, where he resided three of his four years at IU. Despite juggling athletics, a rigorous class schedule and SAE fraternity obligations, Schulhof earned All-American honors four times.During his swimming career at IU, Schulhof posted six top five finishes at the NCAA Championships.A U.S. National Champion in the 100 and 200 butterfly in 1962, member of the world record relay teams in the 4x100 freestyle in 1964 and 4x100 medley in 1963, Schulhof was a member of the 1964 U.S. Olympic team in Tokyo.“I suddenly saw myself as world class,” Schulhof said. “It’s kind of like discovering that you can do it. You maybe sort of had your doubts that you’re maybe just another one of the swimmers out there, and suddenly, I’m being interviewed by ABC Sports.”During the six weeks leading up to the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, Schulhof had started medical school and resorted to swimming for half an hour at the Indiana Memorial Union pool during his 45-minute lunch break between classes.With no lane set aside and limited time to train, Schulhof performed the 100 butterfly in a fast enough time to make the U.S. Olympics team. “When I made the team, it opened so many doors,” Schulhof said. “When people know you were on the Olympic team, immediately you stand out in a group.”Schulhof did not swim in the final race, but his participation in qualifications earned him a gold medal in the 4x100 freestyle relay.Although Schulhof competed at the highest level with the greatest athletes of his time, he said this achievement is small compared to setting world records. “You can win national championships, and you can make Olympic teams, and you can do a lot of great things, but it’s pretty rare to set a world record,” Schulhof said. “I was fortunate enough to have one individual and two relay world records, and in my heart, having three world records was probably one of the most important accomplishments of mine because world records don’t come very often.”Schulhof said he is flattered to be honored in the Hall of Fame with other IU swimmers who he considers to be the very pinnacle of success in the sport.“It is just a dream come true,” Schulhof said. “I have always been a huge IU fan down here in Tar Heel country, N.C., and I just am such a fan.“To be recognized by Indiana University, it’s very special.”
(10/26/12 4:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will compete against Texas and Michigan at 4:30 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday in Austin, Texas.“This meet will be one of the highest levels of competition that the team gets prior to Big Tens,” sophomore Steve Schmuhl said. “Michigan and Texas are top-tier teams, but if the team swims up to our potential, it will be a very close race.”Coming off its first dual meet and two victories against Kentucky and Tennessee, the men’s team will look to Schmuhl and juniors Eric Ress, James Wells and Cody Miller to contribute first-place finishes. Coaches will encourage the freshman to perform to their full abilities and add to the Hoosiers’ depth. Freshman Tanner Kurz, third-place finisher in the 100 backstroke last weekend, is expected to put points on the board for IU. “All of our top-end guys swam very well, putting up nationally competitive times,” Ress said, “Our bottom end needs to step up, but that will, without a doubt, come with training and adjusting to the workload for underclassmen.”For the women’s team, Canadian native and freshman Brooklyn Snodgrass will be a threat to the Wolverines and the Longhorns in the backstroke events.In the season opener, Snodgrass touched the wall in first place in both the 100 and 200-yard backstroke events.“We are strong in backstroke yet lack depth,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “If the freshmen develop quickly, we will have the depth we need to be successful at the conference meet.”Although there is pressure to compete well in the collegiate season, the Hoosiers focus on swimming at the highest level possible and emphasize the importance of cheering each other on while doing so. “The team is just one big family,” Schmuhl said, “It’s like having 30 brothers and 30 sisters ... We have one of the best team chemistries in the NCAA.”Junior Lindsay Vrooman was a top scorer for the women’s team last weekend as she placed first in the 1,000-yard freestyle and second in the 500 freestyle. Freshman Taylor O’Brien finished behind Vrooman in both events.“Our biggest team strength right now is that we a very unified as a team right now,” Vrooman said, “I’ve never been on a team that was this supportive of each other.” Junior Darian Schmidt and senior Mick Dell’Orco led the men’s diving team in points against Kentucky and Tennessee while the women’s divers failed to produce any top-three finishes. Looking to Friday’s meet, the IU swimmers and divers hope to compete to their fullest against Texas and Michigan.“Our head coach Ray always says we swim fast when we’re having fun, so I can guarantee that we’re going to be enjoying this meet a lot more than the other two teams,” Vrooman said.
(10/22/12 4:12am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams started the 2012-13 season with more wins than losses.The men’s team faced Kentucky (196-104) and Tennessee (183-117), while the IU women topped Kentucky 189-111 but fell 66 points short of Tennessee (183-117) in a double dual meet at the Lancaster Aquatic Center in Lexington, Ky.“Without question, I wanted to beat Tennessee and Kentucky because they are two really big rivals of ours, especially Kentucky,” junior Eric Ress said.“I believe that if everybody does what they are capable of doing and we work together and continue to work together and have a cohesive unit, we are going to be a team that is definitely headed in the right direction,” said Donny Brush, assistant head coach for coordination of training and student athlete development.Next weekend, the IU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams travel to Austin, Texas, to compete against the Texas Longhorns and Michigan Wolverines in a double dual meet. Top three finishes for IURelays:Women’s 200 yard medley, IU 2ndMen’s 200 yard medley, IU 1stMen’s 400 yard freestyle, IU 2ndWomen’s 1000 yard freestyle:Lindsay Vrooman, 1stTaylor O’Brien, 2ndMen’s 1000 yard freestyle:Ryan Hinshaw, 1stNick Schwab, 2ndWomen’s 200 yard freestyle:Cynthia Pammett, 3rdMen’s 200 yard freestyle:Eric Ress, 1stJim Barbiere, 2ndWomen’s 100 yard backstroke:Brooklyn Snodgrass, 1stMen’s 100 yard backstroke:James Wells, 1stWomen’s 100 yard breaststroke:Ashley Specht, 2ndBronwyn Pasloski, 3rdMen’s 100 yard breaststroke:Cody Miller, 1stTanner Kurz, 2ndWomen’s 200 yard butterfly:Haley Lips, 2ndBrenna MacLean, 3rdMen’s 200 yard butterfly:Steve Schmuhl, 1stMen’s 50 yard freestyle:Daniel Kanorr, 1stMen’s 1 meter diving:Darin Schmidt, 1stMick Dell’Orco, 3rdWomen’s 100 yard freestyle:Cynthia Pammett, 3rdMen’s 100 yard freestyle:Jim Barbiere, 2ndWomen’s 200 yard backstroke:Brooklyn Snodgrass, 1stAllie Day, 3rdMen’s 200 yard backstroke:Eric Ress, 1stSteve Schmuhl, 2ndWomen’s 200 yard breaststroke:Bronwyn Pasloski, 2ndMadeline Maher, 3rdMen’s 200 yard breaststroke:Cody Miller, 1stWomen’s 500 yard freestyle:Lindsay Vrooman, 2ndTaylor O’Brien, 3rdMen’s 500 yard freestyle:Jim Barbiere, 1stRyan Hinshaw, 2ndMen’s 100 yard butterfly:James Wells, 1stMen’s 3 meter diving:Darin Schmidt, 3rdMen’s 200 yard individual medley:Cody Miller, 1st
(10/19/12 4:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With the Indiana swimming and diving team finishing offseason training, several returning individuals boasting various summer accolades and the addition of a hyped freshman class, prospects are high as the Hoosiers head into their first regular season meet Friday.The team will travel to Lexington, Ky., for a dual meet against Kentucky and Tennessee.“We are competing against two SEC teams, so anytime you’re competing against the SEC, you have to bring your A game,” IU Assistant Head Coach Donny Brush said. “We have two cohesive units, but it will be interesting to see how they respond when they are put up against some competition and adversity.” Following the loss of Brittany Strumbel, Allysa Vavra, Margaux Farrell and Laura Ryan, four leading scorers on the women’s team last season, the Hoosiers will want the incoming freshman class to step up immediately. Freshmen Brooklyn Snodgrass and Haley Lips will make their collegiate debuts for IU in Friday’s dual meet. Snodgrass, a Canadian swimmer who won three gold medals at the 2011 Age-Group Nationals, finished sixth in the 100-meter backstroke and 11th in the 200-meter backstroke at Canadian Olympic Trials in April. Last summer, Lips won two gold medals at the YMCA National Long Course Championships in the 400-meter freestyle with a national record time of 4:17.56 and the 200-meter individual medley with a time of 2:19.52. Lips is also a member of the USA Swimming 2012-13 Junior National team.The two are part of a freshman class that consists of 26 men’s and women’s swimmers.“They are the strongest group of freshmen that I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” junior Cody Miller said. “They’ve really integrated into the program and have started competing well in workouts better than other freshmen have in the past, even better than my class did, which is pretty big.”On the men’s side, junior Eric Ress will return to his first meet since the 2011 NCAA Championships after sitting out the 2011-12 season to train for the London Olympics. Although Ress fell three-tenths of a second short of qualifying for last summer’s Olympics, the 2011 NCAA runner up in both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke said his return to collegiate swimming is much anticipated.“I’m really swimming for something bigger than myself, so I’ve never been more excited than I am for this dual meet,” Ress said, “I’m really pumped about it.”In addition to Ress’ scoring potential, the Hoosiers return all nine of its point scorers from a top 10 finish in last March’s NCAA Championships.One of those scorers, sophomore Steve Schmuhl, placed 14th in the 200-meter butterfly in the NCAA as a freshman.In a breakout summer, Schmuhl qualified for the 2012 Short Course World Championships after earning a bronze medal at the U.S. Open in the 400-meter individual medley. “We had a great preseason, and everybody seems a lot more fit than they’ve been in the past,” Brush said. “Obviously, I think Schmuhl had an outstanding summer, so as a freshman last year coming in, we are looking for big things from him.”As Friday’s meet approaches, the Hoosiers anticipate it being a stepping stone into a new season. The team knows more important meets wait for it down the line, but the swimmers said they look forward to the challenge of a season opener. “We train through the dual meets and work on little things in the meets that we work on in practice to get better, so if we don’t do great, it’s not that big of a deal,” senior Mick Dell’Orco said. “As long as we keep doing the right things, it will all come together at the end.”
(08/29/12 3:30am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Former IU swimmer and French Olympian Margaux Farrell was declared one of the 30 finalists for the NCAA Woman of the Year award Monday. She was chosen from a group of 430 nominees.“I am surprised and honored that I am a finalist because there are so many qualified women that are phenomenal student athletes, so just to be considered for this award means so much to me,” Farrell said. The NCAA chose 10 honorees from each division representing various NCAA sports. The field will be cut further in September, when three finalists from each division will be chosen to comprise a total of nine finalists. During a ceremony Oct. 14 in Indianapolis, the 2012 Woman of the Year will be named and the top 30 women honored.“Margaux’s nomination for NCAA Woman of the Year culminates a fantastic four years at Indiana University for her,” IU Coach Ray Looze said in a press release. “In this day and age, it is very uncommon for a nonprofessional swimmer to win an Olympic medal.” An 11-time All-American, two-year captain of the IU women’s swimming team and 2012 Olympics bronze medalist in the 4x200-meter freestyle relay for France, Farrell has left a legacy with the IU swimming program.“Obviously, there are things I wish I could have done better or races and grades I wish would have been faster or higher,” Farrell said. “However, all in all, everything happens for a reason, and so I can’t look back and regret what did or didn’t happen. I’m proud of what I’ve achieved, and I hope I can continue to set high goals in the future.”During her tenure at IU, Farrell excelled in academics, including being named a three-time Academic All-Big Ten honoree, a 2011 CoSIDA Academic All-District selection, a 2012 winner of the Wayne Duke Postgraduate Scholarship and a recipient of an NCAA postgraduate scholarship.In May, while securing a spot on the 2012 French Olympic team, she received a degree in journalism with a psychology minor.Despite an acceptance to USC to complete a master’s in broadcast journalism, Farrell is deferring for one year to work swim clinics and complete an internship. She wants to gain experience before she begins school to hopefully work in entertainment or sports television. “Ideally, I would like to work in television or television advertising, but my main goal is to be on camera someday,” Farrell said.Farrell started her swimming career as a freshman in spring 2009 with a bang by finishing fourth in the 100-meter freestyle and 200-meter freestyle and winning a Big Ten title as a member of the 400-meter medley relay, leading the Hoosiers to a Big Ten team title. She completed her sophomore year with another Big Ten title in the 400-meter freestyle relay along with a victory in the 200-meter freestyle and second-place finish in the 100-meter freestyle.During her junior year, Farrell led Indiana once again, winning a conference title in the 800-meter freestyle relay and placing third in the 200-meter freestyle, 100-meter freestyle and 400-meter freestyle relay. She helped IU win its third straight Big Ten Championship.“Whether it be the last 12 months or the past four years, she has appreciated the time Indiana has put into her, and she has deflected a lot of the praise onto all the people who supported her, especially her mother,” Looze said. Farrell ended her IU career with four Big Ten titles in the 800-meter freestyle relay. She owns the school record for six different events.“Margaux has a lot to give, and I think the more she puts into people, the more she will get out of life,” Looze said.
(08/23/12 4:18am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The only part of the race she remembers is walking out with her teammates, purposely averting her gaze from the stands so she would not see the crowd of spectators about to watch her swim. Margaux Farrell, a 2012 IU graduate, was about to live her lifelong dream of swimming in the Olympics, participating in the 4X200-meter freestyle relay for France.“I had so much adrenaline,” Farrell said. “The race was a blur, and there were too many emotions to digest.”Many children dream of becoming Olympians, but not all are willingto endure hours of training and sacrifice extracurricular activities to reach that goal. When Farrell came to IU from Woodbridge, Conn., in 2008, the Olympics had been a dream of hers, she said, but they were not an initial goal.Her freshman year of college, Farrell failed to place in the top 40 at the NCAA Championships in both the 100- and 200-meter freestyle events.“Freshman year was tough,” Farrell said. “It was hard adjusting to collegiate training and also making the transition from high school to college.”Earning her first individual Big Ten title in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:45.32 as a sophomore, the Connecticut native began to make a name for herself within the IU swimming program. She went on to set the school record in the same event only four weeks later at the NCAA Championships.Farrell was then presented an opportunity to swim at the 2010 LEN European Championships in the 4X200 freestyle relay. She and her relay team finished in second place.“After I made the European Championship team in 2010, I realized for the first time that I had a chance (at making the Olympics),” Farrell said.For Farrell, making the Olympic team for France was the ultimate goal during her senior season.While the other swimmers began tapering for the Big Ten Conference Championships, Farrell and IU Coach Ray Looze decided to keep the intensity of her workouts high. Three weeks after the Big Ten Championships, Farrell competed in 10 races in three days.She swam at the NCAA Championships in Auburn, Ala., where she said she was upset by her less-than-desirable times. Farrell then flew to New York and then to Belgium, where she drove two hours to Dunkirk, France. “I went into the French Olympic Trials with a lower morale,” Farrell said. “Actually at the meet, I didn’t think I would make it.”Farrell swam in multiple events in the trials, and she made the finals of the 200 freestyle, the qualifying event for the 4X200 freestyle relay.In the finals, she finished in fifth place. Though she did not automatically qualify for the team, she was near certain she would make the team as an alternate.“The wait was pretty nerve-racking, even though I was pretty sure I’d be selected,” Farrell said. “I didn’t want to count my eggs before they hatched.”She eventually found out at a Chicago airport with IU teammates junior Eric Ress and sophomore Justine Ress she had officially made the team. After the French Olympic Trials in March, Farrell began having back issues. She had cortisone-type medicines injected to get her through the random flare-ups, all the while preparing for her Olympic opportunity.When she arrived in London, a doctor concluded that the issues with Farrell’s vertebrae were caused by tendonitis running down her leg.Despite her volatile medical state, Farrell decided she would swim no matter what.“There were days I couldn’t walk and had to be on bed rest,” Farrell said. “It was just a two-minute race. For those two minutes, I just had to go as hard as I could.”Farrell swam second that day in her team’s rotation and had a split of 2:00.06 in the preliminary round. France finished third in the heat and fifth overall, as Farrell helped her team qualify for the night’s finals. Though she did not swim in the finals, she still was awarded an Olympic medal as France won bronze in the night’s race.Overcoming her hardships, through travel and health issues alike, Farrell was finally an Olympic medalist. “This whole experience has been pretty surreal,” Farrell said. “I haven’t fully grasped the fact that I am now an Olympic medalist.”
(08/22/12 1:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU Diving Coach Jeff Huber announced Tuesday morning former USA Diving Head Coach John Wingfield is the new IU assistant diving coach.Wingfield has worked with USA Diving for 15 years and was the director of the National Training Center and head coach of USA Diving since 2009. He was also Team USA’s head diving coach in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.“I think it’s lights out,” IU swimming and diving Coach Ray Looze said. “I think it’s just an outstanding hire. He is a phenomenal coach that could really be a head coach for any program in the United States.”As director of the National Training Center, Wingfield trained talents such as Thomas Finchum, Mary Beth Dunnichay and 2012 Olympic gold medalist David Boudia.He is the head coach of 2012 national champion of the women’s platform and synchronized platform, high school senior Jessica Parratto.“John is recognized in the diving community as one of the best diving coaches not only in the United States but in the world,” Huber said in a press release. “He has developed from the ground up countless elite level divers.”Huber said Wingfield is expected to make the IU diving program stronger.“(Wingfield’s hiriwwwng) is a program changer for sure,” Looze said. “We’re only going to get better because of it.”As he moves from the national stage to IU, Wingfield said he looks forward to the new challenge he faces at IU.“I am very excited to join the Indiana University family and to be an integral part of IU swimming and diving, a program imbued with 53 years of tradition and success at the Big Ten, NCAA and international levels,” Wingfield said in the press release. “My goal is to help institute a program that responsibly upholds such tradition and participates in the growth and development of great student athletes.”
(08/21/12 3:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>From IDS ReportsThe IU diving team competed in the AT&T USA Diving National Championships last week in Greensboro, N.C.Senior Amy Cozad had first place in the women’s platform competition heading into the final round with a score of 338.40 points. Cozad ended the final round as runner-up, tallying 348.15.Junior Kate Hillman tallied 251.95 points and finished 20th in the women’s platform competition.Junior Darian Schmidt posted a score of 368.15, placing fifth in the 1-meter springboard competition. After sitting in sixth after the semifinal round of the 3-meter springboard, Schmidt placed 10th with 422.60 points.Junior Conor Murphy barely made it to the finals of the men’s platform competition, taking the eighth and final spot into the finals, where he finished fourth with a score of 369.95.Former Hoosier Gabby Agostino finished 11th in the 3-meter springboard with 254.10.Agostino and senior Logan Kline placed second in the synchronized springboard event with a score of 291.30.The Hoosiers begin the 2012-13 season Oct. 19 with a meet in Lexington, Ky. against Kentucky and Tennessee.— gabreed@indiana.edu