Women’s swimming and diving teams begin postseason competition
The No. 11 women’s swimming and diving team begins postseason competition today at the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis.
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The No. 11 women’s swimming and diving team begins postseason competition today at the Big Ten Championships in Minneapolis.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Alexis Ohanian is on a mission to “make the world suck less.” The co-founder of Reddit and now-investor and adviser for more than 70 start-ups spoke to more than 200 IU students Thursday in Alumni Hall at the Indiana Memorial Union about how they can join him.A year after graduating from the University of Virginia, Ohanian started Reddit, the popular social news and entertainment website. Most recently, he has become the bestselling author of “Without Their Permission,” a book about Internet entrepreneurship in which he tells his story as well as those of others that have inspired him.“Go forth and suck,” Ohanian said. “Sucking is the first step to being sort of good at something. No one actually knows what they’re doing because life is not a paint by number.”Ohanian is currently on a tour of 200 events across the country and will visit a total of 77 universities.Back in August, an IU student found that Ohanian had posted on the sub-Reddit page for IU about coming to the University as a part of his book tour. The Informatics and Computing Student Association and Union Board teamed up to the plan the event and it has been underway ever since. “The great thing about Union Board being able to put on an event like this is we’re really tapping into a key audience of students who maybe haven’t really found their niche place on campus, if they aren’t a part of the Greek system, if they aren’t super involved in student organizations,” Union Board member Aamena Ansari said. “Really, the Internet is a place to flock to to find yourself and to learn so much about the world around you.”Ohanian said he hopes students will use the Internet to its maximum potential because it has so much to offer the millennial generation.“This is the time to be trying new things — shipping and launching and failing — because no one’s looking,” he said.Ohanian is now an ambassador for Y Combinator, the digital entrepreneur company that helped him get his start.He said there is no better time to start acting on ideas than as a student.“You’re not just another history major,” he said. “You’re a history major who’s launched three kickstarter campaigns. That’s real stuff that you can start doing right now.”Rachel Shinn, student ambassador for ICSA, said she hopes Ohanian’s visit will help students to realize that was he has done is possible for anyone here at IU.“IU has so many talented students and I’m positive that some of them have great ideas,” she said. “It would be awesome if someone’s idea is turned into a reality with the help of Alexis.”At the end of the event, Ohanian was joined on stage by Mike Trotzke, who started SproutBox. SproutBox is based out of Bloomington and is a business focused on investing in startup companies.As entrepreneurs who invest in and also provide resources for entrepreneurs to take action on their ideas, Ohanian and Trotzke served as inspiration to the students who attended.“Try anything even, if you think it’s going to fail, because you really don’t know how it’s going to do,” IU student Alexis Baker said.Ohanian is an example of what can happen with the freedom of the Internet and all the technology around us. He said he wanted to persuade students to use the resources they have to put themselves out there and have their ideas heard.“The Internet means so much to us — not just culturally or economically, on so many levels,” Ohanian said. “These are the skills that are going to make you not only someone I want to invest in, but someone I want to hire.”Follow reporter Grace Palmieri on Twitter @grace_palmieri.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Two rows of chairs lined the center of the room. Boys sat on the right, girls on the left. Each pair faced one another. Time after time, the clock was set for three minutes.Ready, set, date.Students in IU’s black community came together Tuesday night for the first Cupid Shuffle Speed Dating Charity Benefit.Tierra Griffin, president of the Tau chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, said the idea for the event came from the Women of Color Leadership Institute. They joined with the Gamma Eta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, the Tau chapter of AKA and the Alpha chapter of Kappa Alpha Phi for the event.Lucretia Black, president of the WCLI, said they discussed a date auction as well as speed dating.“We had representatives from each organization get together with women of color to kind of give our perspective and expertise and just provide any help with planning that they needed,” Griffin said.Pre-sale tickets were $3, and tickets at the door were $5. Non-perishable food items and feminine hygiene products were also accepted. All proceeds will go to a multitude of charities such as Relay for Life and Keep a Child Alive.Black said this first-time event was most importantly a way to give back to the community.“Anything that we can do for public service is really important to the WCLI,” she said.For the speed dating segment of the event, everyone was given a paper heart. They had three minutes to meet and talk to the person sitting in front of them. The first three couples to match the number on their heart to their partner’s heart were rewarded with a prize. People who met during speed dating mingled to talk more in depth after a few rounds.“I wanted to up my social skills, get out there and meet new people,” IU student Kiara Spells said. The night included introductions of the organizations and volunteers who helped to plan the event and videos advertising some of the charities.Griffin said everyone who attended was giving back to their community.“Any time we can provide any type of service or any charitable event to give back to that organization we’re really happy to do so,” she said. “We’re just happy to help.”Follow reporter Grace Palmieri on Twitter @grace_palmieri.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Senior Eric Ress was named the Big Ten Swimmer of the Week and senior Darian Schmidt was named the Big Ten Diver of the Week, the conference announced Tuesday.In a 186-114 win against Purdue on Saturday, Ress had two individual wins as well as two second-place finishes in helping the Hoosiers defeat their in-state rival.He earned an NCAA B-cut in the 200-yard freestyle, finishing in 1:37.68. Ress also took the 200-yard backstroke victory against the Boilermakers. Added to his victories, Ress placed second in both the 500-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relay.Ress has found his stride in the late parts of the season. During the last two meets of the regular season before the Big Ten meet, Ress won five of his eight events.Schmidt was named Big Ten Diver of the Week for the seventh time in his career as a Hoosier after diving against Purdue.He had first-place finishes in both the one-meter and three-meter competitions. Schmidt’s 397.95 points from the one-meter is a season-best score, and his 450.30 points on the three-meter marks the second time he has scored more than 450 this season. Both scores are NCAA Zone diving qualifications.The IU men’s swimming and diving team will compete Feb. 26 at the Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor, Mich.— Grace Palmieri
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Free tax assistance will be available on campus through the end of March for those who qualify.Nearly 75 volunteers, most of whom are students from the Maurer School of Law and Kelley School of Business, are participating in the Internal Revenue Service’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program. They will assist low-income, elderly, disabled, and limited-English-speaking clients filing their tax returns.“The VITA program is an excellent opportunity for our students to give back to the Bloomington community by using their knowledge to assist low-income taxpayers,” Ajay Mehrotra, associate dean and professor of law, said in a press release. “It is also a good way for students to learn more about the federal income tax system and how it touches so many aspects of everyday life.”These students have gone through tax law training as well as software training, and were required to pass a certification test before interacting with clients directly to ensure they could properly aid the residents who come in.The program is a community partnership with the Monroe County United Way’s Free Community Tax Service.Charles Gray, the site coordinator for IU’s Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program, said most student volunteers come from the business school, while the law school provides rooms for the weekly clinics.“This is a joint program with both schools providing equal input,” he said. “Without Kelley students’ accounting and business backgrounds, our legal expertise wouldn’t be of much use to our clients.”Residents with an annual income of $52,000 or less are eligible for assistance as long as they have not received income from the sale of stocks, mutual funds or homes and do not own businesses.Clients will also need a W-2, photo identification, Social Security, and other income sources. Non-U.S. citizens are required to have their passport and immigration paperwork.Walk-in clinics started Monday and will continue every Monday and Tuesday 6 to 9 p.m. until March 25 in Maurer 125.Sessions will also take place 9 a.m. to 5 p.m March 8 and 29 in the undergraduate building of Kelley 200 and 202.There will be no sessions on March 17th and 18th.Gray said in past years, mostVITA clients have been foreign students, so volunteers in the program have become proficient in preparing taxes for those students each year. The program is important because many clients would have nowhere else to turn, he said.“I can say without hesitation that I believe our site is the most well equipped to aid foreign student taxpayers with the labyrinthine process of the American tax system,” he said. “For many of these students, they speak English as a second language and have little-to-no experience with our system of government and revenue.” In the past, VITA has found hundreds, and in some cases, thousands of dollars worth of unexpected refunds, according to a release.“Without our services, preparing a tax return would be a daunting prospect,” Gray said. “Our assistance makes the stressful process of tax season much less so.”Follow reporter Grace Palmieri on Twitter @grace_palmieri.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Friday night, the IU Women’s Law Caucus hosted its annual auction at the KRC Banquet Hall downtown, opening its attendees to a vast array of possible prizes and raising thousands of dollars for victims of abuse. The elaborate prizes included joining Professor Charles Geyh on a culinary tour of Africa, having an authentic Italian dinner with Professor Ken Turchi, enjoying a behind-the-scenes tour of the Indianapolis Zoo with Professor Fred Cate and shooting hoops in IU’s historic Assembly Hall.“The reason I do it and the reason that so many of my colleagues do it is it gives us a chance to hang out with our students outside the classroom doing something completely fun, or silly or unrelated to class,” Professor Ryan Scott, one of three auctioneers, said.The event, which was open to law students, professors and faculty, was a silent and live auction fundraiser. The auction has been going on for more than 20 years, and between 200 and 250 people attended this year. This year the money raised will go to the Middle Way House and the Protective Order Project.Professors donate their time and money to provide 22 packages for the live auction portion, and there are more than 50 silent auction prizes donated by businesses and individuals in the community.Prizes went on to include a Vera Bradley lunch tote, a basketball signed by IU Coach Tom Crean, spa packages and gift cards to restaurants and beauty shops.Rachel Collins, a second-year law student, bid on an Ultimate Nerd Game Night with Professor Scott and won it for four friends who couldn’t be there.“I think it’s a great cause that the law school students can come out and raise money for,” she said. “Also, several of my really good friends planned it, and I wanted to come out and support all the hard work they had done.”While the auction allows for low-stress interactions between students and professors, the proceeds go to help fund the Middle Way House.The Middle Way House provides 24-hour general crisis intervention service to citizens in Monroe County, and most of the people who come in are victims of domestic violence and sexual assault. It grants emergency shelter, childcare and prevention programs.The remainder of the proceeds benefits the Protective Order Project. POP is a student-run organization in the Maurer School of Law. It assists survivors of domestic violence who cannot afford legal counsel in seeking protective orders.Last year, the event raised more than $12,000 for these victims.“I think the most important part is it’s a good example of students and professors working together for the Bloomington community,” co-chairwoman Lizzie Conkle said. “It’s really interesting to see the students and professors interacting, and most of the law school students look forward to it every year.” Follow reporter Grace Palmieri on Twitter at @grace_palmieri.
Six consecutive wins to open a 16-event meet gave the IU men’s swimming and diving team a 186-114 victory against Purdue on senior day.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s swimming and diving team’s record is better than .500 for the first time this season. After defeating Louisville last week, the Hoosiers (5-4) welcome in-state rival Purdue in their final dual meet of the season Saturday.Three of the team’s four losses have been to top-five teams. IU hasn’t lost since Oct. 25 when it dropped a dual meet to Michigan and Texas.The Hoosiers have continued to climb the CSCAA rankings and are No. 7 as they prepare to take on the No. 23 Boilermakers.“They don’t have a whole lot of weaknesses, so it’s going to be a great meet,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “I predict it’ll come down to the last relay.”The long-time rivals have competed in 34 dual meets since the 1975-76 season. IU holds a 28-6 all-time record.Last year, the Hoosiers posted a 179.5-118.5 victory in West Lafayette, their third straight win in the series.Looze said despite their dominant performance in years past, it’s always a tough fight.“They always show up for this meet,” he said. “I expect them to come out kind of like Mike Tyson in the first round of a boxing match, ready to try to light us up in that 200 medley relay.”This weekend’s meet will feature three USA Swimming National Team members, two of them competing for IU. Senior Cody Miller is the three-time reigning Big Ten Champion in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststroke. Junior Steve Schmuhl holds the school record in the 200-yard and 400-yard individual medley.Looze said their strengths will be tested this week because Purdue is strong in many of the same events as the Hoosiers.“The toughest events for us will probably be the sprint freestyles, so the 50, 100, 200,” junior Joe Powell said. “They have one of the best freestylers in the country, so it’ll be critical for us to do well in those events to do well this weekend.”Senior Eric Ress, better known for his success in the backstroke events, now has the top times this season for IU in the 500-yard and 1,000-yard freestyle.Ress said the team is focused on being better prepared this year than it has been in the past.“A lot of times throughout the season we seem to underestimate them going into the last meet and the week before we look at their results and they always seem to be a lot better than we had anticipated,” he said. “This week we’re trying to get the guys ready for that.”There will be a total of 16 events, including the 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions. This is the Hoosiers’ last home meet of the season and marks the end of the dual meet season.With the Big Ten Championships next, this is the last opportunity for the men’s team to see where they stand.“This is our last rehearsal for the men for Big Ten, so we want to really be sharp with every bit of fundamentals,” Looze said. “We’re just looking to get to compete because you always find out something about yourself, about your team and protecting your home turf. We’re excited about all those things Saturday against the Boilers.”Follow reporter Grace Palmieri on Twitter @grace_palmieri
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>It was a Sunday in February of 2008, her freshman year of college. Cassidy Kahn woke up to find her knees covered in rashes, two on the left and one on the right. The diver had been plagued with sickness after sickness since she got to school — mononucleosis and kidney infections. The rashes barely fazed her.A day went by.By Monday morning, the rash was extremely painful and she began running a fever. The IU diving team trainer sent her to the team doctor. The rashes were hot and quickly spreading. The doctor advised her to see a dermatologist.That night, her fever increased to 104 degrees.She woke up Wednesday morning, three days after discovering the rash, to the most excruciating pain of her life. After seeing the trainer, team doctor and dermatologist again, she was rushed to the hospital.X-rays and blood cultures were done immediately. The tests found toxic gas in both of her legs, causing hot, crunchy-textured skin to form on her thighs. Kahn had necrotizing fasciitis with gas gangrene and compartment syndrome, a rare and life-threatening illness. There was only one logical option: emergency surgery.The doctor came in before she went under and asked her what religion she practiced. She told him she was Jewish. They sent in a Rabbi. “Right before they rolled me into surgery he said, ‘this is gonna be the toughest fight of your life,’” she said.***Kahn, a senior, has been on the IU diving team for seven years, but has only been able to compete for two full seasons.Her dreams of competing at the highest levels as a diver, a gymnast and a swimmer have carried her though a lifetime of fighting off illness, including 20 surgeries since age eight.Despite a series of serious illnesses and injuries, Kahn made it to the Big Ten Championships with the IU diving team, nearly qualifying for the NCAA championships, and performed in international diving competition. “Having been a part of a lot of different teams throughout her years here, she has signified the traditions and legacy that IU diving is all about,” senior teammate Kate Hillman said. “She is so supportive and will do anything for the team.”***Kahn woke up several days after her emergency surgery, each of her incised legs open to the bone. She spent three weeks in the hospital before she was discharged and able to fly home to New York.Just a day and half later she was back in the emergency room.The infection had spread to her calf. She was suffering from every possible reaction to her antibiotics — stomach infection, reactive arthritis and serum sickness, among others. Her feeble organs were shutting down.“My mom couldn’t even touch me at one point without me screaming because I was in that much pain,” she said.She had to undergo an additional surgery to remove the remainder of the infection and was told she might never walk again.She returned to Bloomington at the end of April for the team banquet, where she received the Mike Collier award. The award recognizes a person who overcame adversity that didn’t allow them to achieve all they had hoped.“No one on this team ever gave up on me,” she said. “No one faltered on my place on this team. Just to have that behind me through everything was absolutely incredible.”Kahn went back home and, on June 11, 2008, three days before her 20th birthday, the doctors closed her up for the final time, infection free.She stayed home until August, re-learning how to walk.***Kahn was born in Dallas in 1988, but grew up in New York. She was born with acute learning disabilities. Her dyslexia, attention deficit disorder, and auditory processing disorder kept her from learning to talk until she was 4 years old. She was enrolled in the Churchill School in Manhattan, a K-12 school where her learning needs could be met.Kahn started swim lessons at a very young age, but she had other dreams on her mind.“We went to the Big Apple Circus one day and I came home and I kept saying something,” she said. “My speech was horrible at the time. Finally my mom goes, ‘I think she’s saying she wants to be an acrobat in the circus.’”Kahn’s mom decided to enroll her in gymnastics. Kahn remained a gymnast and a swimmer throughout her childhood and into her teenage years, hoping for a future in gymnastics. And she wasn’t afraid to dream big.“My dreams as a little girl were to go to the Olympics and get a college scholarship,” Kahn said.She had achieved success at the highest level and even wanted her mom to take her to Cincinnati to train with the best. Although that was never a possibility, the sport still served as an outlet for Kahn.“I think at first gymnastics was always my balance because school was always such a struggle for me,” she said. “Whenever I was at the gym it was just something that always came so naturally for me, so it was my home. My teammates were my family and my coaches were second parents.”Kahn suffered her first setback when she was diagnosed with osteochondritis dissecans in both elbows at the age of eight.Overuse had caused her bone and cartilage to deteriorate over time. Surgery after surgery, doctors had to remove bone from both of her hips and insert them into her elbows in order for the cartilage and bones there to grow.Finally, six surgeries and eight years later, the doctors told her she couldn’t go on any longer. Just like that, her gymnastics career was finished.***“Whenever one door closes, another door opens,” Kahn said.Her mother’s friend suggested she try diving. “The dreams I had as a gymnast just transferred over to diving,” Kahn said.After a trip to California to train the summer before her senior year of high school, she began being recruited by division one schools. Kansas, Michigan, Columbia, Brown and others wanted Kahn on their teams.IU wasn’t even on her radar. To her, that was the school with “the Olympic coach,” which seemed completely out of reach for someone who had just begun diving the year before.That all changed on her recruiting trip to her top choice at the time, Kansas.Unbeknownst to Kahn, then-IU Coach Jeff Huber had sent her a letter asking her to come visit. Because she didn’t know much about IU’s program and she was somewhat intimidated by its deep-rooted tradition in the sport, Kahn visited campus reluctantly. “The very first night I was here I texted my mom, ‘I’m going to IU,’” she said.***The day Kahn returned from her visit, tragedy struck her family again when her brother passed away. Her mom considered keeping her out of school for a year.But that wasn’t an option for Kahn. She told her parents IU was the only school she would even apply to. If she didn’t get in by December, she would begin applying elsewhere.A week later, she received news from the IU diving assistant coach that she had been accepted.Kahn left for Bloomington in 2008 after graduating high school. She spent two weeks training with the coach she never even thought she would meet.“Those were the best two weeks of my life,” she said. “It was amazing. He would tell me to do something and I would be like, ‘OK, how many?’ I was living what I had always wanted to do.”Her worry-free diving was short-lived. After having some knee pain, she went home to New York and found out she had cartilage damage, possibly a torn meniscus, and needed to have arthroscopic knee surgery.It took months for her to recover. The following August, when she had re-gained her strength from the necrotizing fasciitis, they found a bulge in her leg.At first, she ignored it, but when she went home over winter break, she found out the bulge was a muscle hernia and her skin was all that held her muscle down.Kahn got set for yet another surgery.“I really had no understanding of how weak I was,” she said. “Even at three years old I was stronger than I was at that point.”Six months later, two years of college done with, Kahn had yet to compete in a college diving meet. There was no doubt in her mind that junior year she would get that chance, she said.By the time she had regained her strength, Kahn had just a few months to prepare for the Hoosierland Invitational, the first big meet of the year.In October, she was finally cleared to begin diving again by the doctor who had saved her life.Even the best day of her life came with bad news. Hours later she came down with Swine Flu, keeping her out for another week.It was Nov. 6, and Hoosierland was just on the horizon. When Huber told her she could compete despite having just a couple weeks to prepare, Kahn was overcome with joy.“I remember sprinting to the locker room and calling my mom in tears,” she said.Not only did she perform her easiest tower dives, she also competed on the one-meter and three-meter. A group of Kahn’s friends wore white “Yes She Kahn” shirts to support her in her first collegiate meet.The rest of the year didn’t go as planned because of her recurring knee injury. In May, she had bilateral stress fractures in both tibias, which kept her out for the summer.Then, in December of that same year, she had to undergo entire patella realignment. She was debilitated for 11 more months.***It was the summer 2011 and Kahn said it was the perfect time to take her Birthright trip, a free 10-day trip to Israel to celebrate her heritage.As a part of the trip, they visited the Olympic facilities in Israel. She said she was inspired to seek dual citizenship to Israel. She hoped she could one day dive for them at the World Championships, she said.“I’m focused on getting back to diving at this point, so I figure why not have the same goals that I used to have?” she said.That December, just a month after being cleared again, Kahn was hospitalized for two weeks with kidney stones. While in the hospital, she received a call saying she had earned dual citizenship.With her long-term goal being to qualify for the World Championships in 2016, Kahn went back to school to continue training for her season.Just a week passed before a broken hand and more knee problems took yet another year of diving away from her.Last season, her sixth year of eligibility, was the first time Kahn competed in the first meet, the last meet, and all meets in between. She said Big Ten Championships went better than she could have ever imagined.“It was like a dream meet for me,” she said. “Everything went right.”She got to the one-meter finals, placing seventh. On tower, she made the semi-finals after only training for three weeks. Kahn was just one dive away from making the NCAA Championships.She had the best season of her life. And she wanted more.Huber encouraged her to apply for a seventh year of eligibility, something that is rarely granted.Kahn recalls sending in her application on a Thursday last year at 4 p.m. Twelve minutes later, it was approved.And that was just the beginning of the good news. At the end of last season, Kahn received a Facebook message from the president of Israeli aquatics saying she had gotten into the World University Games in Russia during the summer 2013.She accepted the offer. Less than four months later she was competing internationally for the Israel team. The diver who had only been able to compete for one collegiate season in her career was now diving at the highest level.There was one problem: Kahn was without a coach.Once in Russia, she met the director of acrobatic performance for Cirque de Soleil by complete accident, and he stepped in as her coach for the meet.She placed 20th on 1-meter and 16th on 3-meter.Her first dream of becoming an acrobat, now 19 years in the making, had become a reality.***Kahn started out her seventh and final season strong, but realized it might not last much longer. Almost all the cartilage in her knee was gone. Her body was worn down.Last Tuesday, she officially, medically retired. “After much thought and conversation and just really having to for the first time in my life listen to my body, we just decided it was time,” she said. “I think the hardest part for me was going in and saying it, admitting it.”A seven-year-long journey filled with innumerous ups and downs ended in disappointment for Kahn. But her teammates and coaches have said the mark she will leave on the tradition of IU diving doesn’t go unnoticed.“She leaves in her stead an example to the young divers in our program of heart and love for the sport,” Hillman said.It may be the end of Kahn’s career, but she remains a part of her seventh team.“She’s going to support the team and still be a big part of our success as we go into the championship season,” head diving coach Drew Johansen said. “She’ll be remembered for her resiliency and toughness and that never quit attitude.”Kahn touched both elbows, both hips, both knees, both shins and reached across her shoulder to her back counting all 16 scars that plaster her body. Her body is marred forever, but she now has dreams beyond the sport that she’s determined to achieve.Kahn is set to graduate in May with her masters in public health. Eventually, she hopes to get a Ph.D in clinical psychology and work with athletes. Her goal is to create a program that works with junior and senior student-athletes on their transition out of sports.Like she said, whenever one door closes another one opens.“I just want people to realize that if you love something, put your heart into it,” she said. “Don’t give up on something just because someone said you can’t. This team is my family, it’s my life. It always is going to be a part of me, even though I didn’t get to where I wanted to go. I don’t want the people that maybe weren’t the best on the team to be forgotten.”Follow reporter Grace Palmieri on Twitter @gpalmieri7.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>A crucial relay win and an unstoppable Eric Ress helped the IU swimming and diving team to a sweep of Louisville in a dual meet Friday at Cousilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. Swimming a total of 2,100 yards, senior Eric Ress won three of his four events as the No. 8 IU men’s team came away with a 162-138 win over the No. 7 Cardinals.Seniors James Wells and Cody Miller, along with freshmen Max Irwin and Anze Tavcar took the 200-yard medley relay to open the meet. Ress then touched first in the 1,000-yard freestyle race to give the men’s team the first two events of the meet.IU Coach Ray Looze said the team’s strong start was a shock to their opponent and allowed them to have success throughout the night.“We didn’t expect to win any relays, so to win that first relay was sort of a punch in the face to our opponent and it dazed them for awhile,” he said.Freshman Jackson Miller was second in both the 200-yard and 500-yard freestyle. In the 100-yard breaststroke, Miller was second and he then took third in the 100-yard butterfly. Wells posted a decisive win in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing in 47.76 seconds.It was Ress, though, who kept his team in front. In addition to his 1,000 freestyle win, he then took the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, and was a member of the second-place 400-yard freestyle relay team.“I’m super proud of Eric Ress,” Looze said. “I don’t think anyone swam any further by any margin than him. Sweeping the 200 back and sweeping the 500 free right there — that was where the meet swayed in our favor.”In the diving well, the men’s team went 1-2-3-4-5-6-7 in the one-meter event, led by senior Emad Abdelatif, who scored 364.28 points. Seniors Joshua Arndt and Darian Schmidt were second and third, respectively.They also took the top six spots in the 3-meter competition, Schmidt finishing first with 425.18 points.IU Diving Coach Drew Johansen said he was looking for flaws in the Hoosiers’ dives going into the meet, but he said he didn’t see many in their dominant performance.“We had a few misses there just dealing with the pressures of competition and the anticipation of doing a good dive, but I thought technically they were all in good form today,” he said.On the women’s side, senior diver Kate Hillman was the lone Hoosier competitor, diving for the last time at home. She outscored all four Louisville divers to take both the one-meter and 3-meter crown.For the swimmers, the meet got off to an unusual start. The A relay team was disqualified in the opening 200-yard medley because of an early exchange, something that hasn’t occurred once this year for the women.From that point on, though, it was a story of 1-2-3 finishes, as the No. 11 women cruised to a 175-123 win.Senior Lindsay Vrooman placed first in the 1,000-yard freestyle, followed by freshman Stephanie Marchuk in second and sophomore Haley Lips in third. In the next event, Vrooman and Lips finished 1-2 and junior Cynthia Pammett took third for a sweep of the 200-yard freestyle.Finally, in a third consecutive event, sophomore Brooklynn Snodgrass was the first of three Hoosiers in the 100-yard backstroke. Juniors Allie Day and Justine Ress went 2-3, respectively.Looze said he was proud of the way his team protected its home pool.“We talked about putting any limits on ourselves,” he said. “We’re going to try to max out to the very highest degree possible.”Other first place finishes included freshman Gia Dalesandro in the 100-yard butterfly, junior Dorina Szekeres in the 400-yard individual medley. and seniors Bronwyn Paslowski in the 100-yard breaststroke and Kait Flederbach in the 50-yard freestyle.Senior Brenna MacLean said the competitive meet atmosphere foreshadowed championship season. “At the beginning we had a little bit of adversity and I think that we quickly came together and really put the pressure on,” she said. “We wanted to really mimic what a big meet would look like. At the end of the day, I know the seniors wanted to finish it up tough and have an amazing meet, and the team was behind us the entire way.”Follow reporter Grace Palmieri on Twitter @gpalmieri7.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will compete against Louisville tonight at Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.Louisville’s men’s team stand as the No. 7 team in the country. The Hoosier men are No. 8.“It’s going to be a very, very close meet,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “If we can win a relay, that will be a huge boost to us because their relays are significantly ahead of ours time wise.”The team has had two weeks to prepare for its toughest competition since the beginning of the season. It most recently defeated Iowa and Missouri.Looze said his team has been working to peak in speed and power at the right time.“We don’t really change our cycle for anything,” he said. “We don’t change it for a dual meet, for Big Tens or for NCAAs. The body likes routine, and that’s what we do.”Last year, the Cardinals were no match for the men’s team, winning 193-107. “Fast really describes everyone on their team,” sophomore Kyle Johnson said. “They may be deeper than we are, but we have talent. We have people that’ll really step up, and I think that’ll be the determining factor.”Looze said he will also be looking for some of his younger swimmers to step up this week. On the women’s side, he said he wants to see swimmers who haven’t scored points this year do so. Ultimately, he said, he wants his team to show their true depth.Louisville’s women’s team is currently ranked No. 13. The Hoosiers are No. 11. Looze said he expects the women’s team will face some future NCAA finalists in Louisville.“They’ve got one of the best flyers and sprint freestylers in the country,” he said. “They’re capable of winning all their events, and then when you put them together, they field a pretty good relay as well. So our women are going to be challenged by those outstanding swimmers.”The Hoosiers were also victorious in 2013, defeating Louisville 160-140. This is their third consecutive weekend with a meet and it marks the end of their dual meet season. Next up are the Big Ten Championships.At this point, competition serves as preparation for the post season.“With the kind of fitness we have, really meets are irrelevant to tire us out,” Looze said. “It’s just building momentum, getting sharp, building confidence. Louisville’s a really good team, so that’s going to be a nice last challenge for us leading into Big Tens and then NCAAs.”For the diving team, the focus of practice the past couple weeks has been quality over quantity as they have cut down on repetitions to get back in competitive form.Most importantly, this weekend will serve as an indicator of what the divers need to improve upon before Big Tens.IU Coach Drew Johansen said he’s looking to find any flaws in a specific category or technique of the dive.“Placement isn’t as important to me as discovering if there’s a weak link in the chain of dives that they’re going to be doing,” he said. “Obviously, we want to place well, and winning is also something you have to learn how to do, but I’m looking to find if there’s any little bits we can tune up.”Looze said he will need to see an overall team effort if they want the same result as last year.“We have to win races,” he said. “We have to get contributions from everybody. If we can beat this team, that’ll be a great win and a confidence booster going into Big Tens.”Follow reporter Grace Palmieri on Twitter @gpalmieri7
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With six national championships, 29 Big Ten team titles, 101 Olympians and 674 All-Americas, the IU swimming and diving teams continue a tradition of winning. This year, the IU women’s swimming team is no exception. However, it’s success outside the pool has the most lasting effects.When the current seniors were freshmen, they were a part of a team that finished second at the Big Ten Championships and 13th in the country. They knew changes needed to be made.“Three years ago, the chemistry wasn’t where it needed to be,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “We didn’t really have everybody pulling in the same direction. As freshmen, I think they saw one thing and wanted to do something different.”Stephanie Armstrong, Brenna MacLean, Bronwyn Paslowski and Lindsay Vrooman, later joined by Kait Flederbach, formed the class of 2014.They all agreed IU immediately felt like home.“There aren’t many places that the first time you go somewhere you can already call it home,” Armstrong said. “It just felt like the right atmosphere for me, completely.”The senior class has gradually fixed what didn’t seem quite right throughout the past few years. They’ve turned an individual sport into a team sport, which Paslowski said has been crucial to the team’s success.“It takes more than yourself to achieve something,” she said. “Over the past couple years, everyone here has become really close — both the women’s team and the men’s team. I think that’s had a lot to do with a lot of our success.”Looze said among the many qualities of great leaders his seniors posses is an unmatched work ethic.Flederbach said this year is different from the others because it has been about enjoying daily practice while always working hard.As mentors, the senior class made sure that this mentality was passed down to the younger swimmers as well.“For a lot of us freshmen, coming in we were shaken up a little bit,” freshman Claudia Di Capua said. “Especially during those hard practices, they were the ones to speak up and get us going again. They keep us motivated.”Their hard work has been met with success. Senior Lindsay Vrooman was last year’s Big Ten Swimmer of the Year.Vrooman also holds the IU pool record in the 1,650-yard freestyle event. She, along with MacLean and Paslowski, all qualified for individual events at the NCAA Championships as juniors.Maclean, Paslowski and Vrooman, as well as junior Dorina Szekeres, are captains this season. Looze said it’s important to have leaders who accept accountability and always do the right thing.“So much happens outside of your control as a coach,” Looze said. “We’re held responsible for everything now more so than ever before. You’ve got to have great leadership so that the team does good things when no one is watching.”With all the senior class has given to the swimming program, they may have just as much to take away from their experience.“I’ve really learned how to not just swim for yourself, but for people you care about — and take what you learned in the pool and apply it to your life,” Flederbach said.The seniors have brought together a team from four countries, nine states and four provinces. Looze said he hopes future teams can follow their lead. “Chemistry. It’s an intangible thing, but I think it’s what separates champions from teams who just fall short,” he said. “It’s the rarest thing in sports.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s swimming and diving team defeated in-state Big Ten rival Purdue 154.5-135.5 during an emotional day in Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. Before the meet Saturday, seven seniors — five swimmers and two divers — were honored as part of senior day activities. They proceeded to beat their third Big Ten opponent of the season, completing a 4-for-4 start to the 2014 season.The Hoosiers won the first six events of the day, leaving IU Coach Ray Looze surprised at his team’s dominant performance.“I think we won 12 of the 16 events, and I didn’t really expect that,” he said. “It’s not like we really lit it up time-wise or anything like that, but I was pleased.”In the opening 200-yard medley relay event, sophomore Brooklynn Snodgrass, freshman Gia Dalesandro and seniors Bronwyn Paslowski and Kait Flederbach took first with a time of 1 minute 40.76 seconds.Sophomore Haley Lips followed with a win in the 1650-yard freestyle. Junior Dorina Szekeres placed second in her first-ever competitive swim in the event.Senior Stephanie Armstrong said the team’s strong start was crucial to its performance all day.“We did the same kind of routine where we wake up and do our wake up swim, then we come here and need to get going right off the bat,” she said. “I think we did a really good job of that right from that mile and that first relay — winning both of those just set the fire to get us going for the rest of the meet.”The team continued its streak as senior Lindsay Vrooman took first in the 200-yard freestyle. IU finished 1-2-3 in the 100-yard backstroke with Snodgrass in first place, junior Allie Day in second and junior Justine Ress in third.Paslowski won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1 minute 2.12 seconds, the first of her two individual wins. Dalesandro and freshman Olivia Barker went 1-2 in the 200-yard butterfly, respectively.Senior Kait Flederbach placed second in the 50-yard freestyle event and helped the Hoosiers win in the 400-yard freestyle relay to cap off the meet. She said the team’s energy and support for one another was the biggest part of their win.“When you looked at our side of the pool, we always had swimmers cheering, and it was never dull. It was never quiet,” Flederbach said. “That really helped us all stay up and get excited for each race.”In the diving well, senior Kate Hillman was second on the 10-meter platform and third on the one-meter springboard.As a group, the seniors had a total of 13 top-three finishes on senior day. Looze said the seniors have changed the culture of the IU swimming and diving program during their four years as Hoosiers.“They embody how to be a team, how to work together, how to support each other, how to bring a bunch of different individuals and personalities together to really function as one,” he said. “They’ve done so much for us, and I think it’s really set us up for years to come, too.”Looze complimented the Purdue swimming and diving program for their results.He said the Hoosiers are taking it one meet at a time moving forward. “They are a very well-coached group, and we’re fortunate to come out with a win,” Looze said. “Beyond that, we’re just focused on being good at the end of the season, being a championship-level team.”Follow reporter Grace Palmieri on Twitter @gpalmieri7.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU women’s swimming and diving team will compete at home against in-state and Big Ten rival Purdue this weekend on senior day.The No. 11 Hoosiers are coming off a sweep of Iowa, Illinois and Missouri. They continued to focus on speed and power this week to build off that success, according to IU Coach Ray Looze.“This week we have a need, a need for speed,” Looze said. “We’ve begun to add a little more speed-assisted stuff, and the team’s really responding. Today we did a pulley set, and we were really moving some great weight and still swimming fast.”This meet is the second of three consecutive meets for the women’s team. Looze said it will serve as a measurement of how well their rigorous training translates to speed in competition.Junior swimmer Allie Day said her team is focused on the mental aspect of the sport as much as the physicality.“We are really focusing on our mentality for how we are going to compete at the end of the season and practicing in race atmosphere,” she said. “These next couples of weeks are our last weeks where we will tear our bodies down before we begin tapering. These weeks are crucial.”While the team is focused on peaking during championship season, that doesn’t take away from the desire to beat its biggest rival.The No. 18 Boilermakers are a perfect 7-0 in dual meet competition this season. They have most recently defeated Michigan State and Michigan, a team the Hoosiers beat earlier in the season.Looze said it will be important to have a strong start to the meet.“We’re just going to have to take it one event at a time,” he said. “There are 16 events, and that 200 medley relay is going to be critical to win.”Senior diver Cassidy Kahn suffered a knee injury during winter break and said she still isn’t certain whether or not she will compete this weekend. Senior Kate Hillman will compete.Kahn said this meet is just as important as any other for preparing for their toughest competition at the end of the season.“It definitely has weight, being one of our biggest rivals, as well as being another dual meet as we come up to Big Tens,” she said. “Just as with any meet, we want to go in prepared and give our best performance that we can give.”The Hoosiers have won the last two meetings, 179-121 last year in West Lafayette and 169-130 in 2012. They hold a 19-10 all-time record against Purdue, including winning 11 of the last 12 meetings.Looze said although it’s always important for them to compete well against a rival, they aren’t doing anything different in terms of their training schedule.“We’re a championship-oriented program, so we don’t put any added emphasis from the standpoint of resting more for it, tapering down, anything like that,” he said. “But, we’re competitors and we love to race, so we want to do our best. We want to represent IU to 100 percent of our ability.”Looze said he wants to start putting more emphasis on having fun while competing. His team knows that touching the wall first is always the most fun, especially when it’s a team effort.“We start hard from the first relay, through all the events, to the last relay,” Day said. “This team is full of fighters, and we compete at our highest potential to not let our teammates down.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Freshmen swimmers Gia Dalesandro and Anze Tavcar earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors this week, and senior Darian Schmidt was named the Big Ten Diver of the Week.In last weekend’s sweep of Iowa, Illinois and Missouri, Dalesandro won both the 200-medley relay and the 200-individual medley. Her win in the 200 IM came in at 2:03.80. Dalesandro teamed with sophomore Brooklynn Snodgrass, senior Bronwyn Paslowski and senior Kait Flederbach to win the 200-medley relay in 1:41.22. Dalesandro also placed second in the 100-meter butterfly. This is her third Freshman of the Week honor.Tavcar had three wins last weekend, earning him his first Freshman of the Week award. He swam leadoff for the 400-meter freestyle relay team, which took first with a time of 2:59.34. Tavcar also won the 50-meter and 100-meter freestyle events. He had a personal best time of 20.18 seconds in the 50-meter freestyle and was just .12 seconds away from breaking his own team-leading time of 44.09 seconds in the 100-meter freestyle. Both times are NCAA B-cuts.Schmidt was named Big Ten Diver of the Week for the sixth time in his career and the second time this season. He was first in the 3-meter competition with a score of 455.75 and just missed beating his school record of 460.20. His score was nearly 100 points better than the second-place finisher. He also took third in the 1-meter competition with 335 points.Though the men’s team gets a week off, the women are back in action this weekend as they take on in-state Big Ten rival Purdue at Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.-Grace Palmieri
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU swimming and diving team swept Iowa, Illinois and Missouri in Iowa City, Iowa, on Saturday.A total of 10 victories on the day helped the women’s team to 170-121, 170-126, and 193-103 victories over No. 21 Missouri, Iowa and Illinois, respectively. For IU Coach Ray Looze, the performance was an indication of how good his team can be.“In the two meets beforehand we talked about how we really felt we could be one of the best teams in the country, and I think today was a true representation of that,” he said.To open the meet, sophomore Brooklynn Snodgrass, senior Bronwyn Paslowski, freshman Gia Dalesandro and senior Kait Flederbach won the 200 medley relay.Paslowski also won the 200-meter breaststroke and finished second in the 100-meter breaststroke. Juniors Justine Ress and Allie Day clocked in only 0.16 seconds apart to place second and third in the 100-yard backstroke.Although the Hoosiers were able to show their depth, it was no question who had the best day in the pool. Senior Lindsay Vrooman swept the distance events and was a perfect three for three in her individual events. She took first place in the 1,000-yard freestyle, 500-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle.“After watching the meet today it was easy to see how in shape we are,” Vrooman said. “Everyone was winning close races and catching others at the end of their race.”Looze said he is confident in what his senior leader can accomplish at the end of the season.“I think she’s going to be a real force at NCAAs,” he said. “She has a burning desire to put IU’s name out there, and I think she’s got a chance to win an NCAA title. I really do.”Other wins for the women included freshman Olivia Barker in the 200-yard butterfly, Snodgrass in the 100-yard freestyle, junior Cynthia Pammett in the 200-yard backstroke and Flederbach in the 50-yard freestyle.The men’s team defeated No. 21 Iowa 195-102 and No. 7 Missouri 174-123. After losing to their first four opponents of the season, the men have now equaled that number in wins.Junior Steve Schmuhl and freshman Max Irwin went 1-2 in the 200-yard butterfly. Freshmen Jackson Miller and Anze Tavcar finished first in the 200-yard freestyle and 50-yard freestyle, respectively, with Tavcar earning an NCAA B-cut and personal best time of 20.81 seconds.Miller also won the 500-yard freestyle, and sophomore Grayson Smith won the 1,000-yard freestyle.Looze said he was especially happy with the way his underclassmen competed.“On the men’s side I really loved the energy the team had right out of the gate,” he said. “One of the highlights was the freshmen stepping up, from Anze Tavcar to Jackson Miller. I was pretty excited about the positive energy.”Senior Eric Ress had several top three finishes on the day. He said the team has made great strides in the month they had without competition.“I feel our performance at U.S. Winter Nationals wasn’t the best representation of where we are as a team,” Ress said. “We really capitalized on our shortcomings at Nationals and made huge gains this past month. Today’s win showed how we’ve made progress as a team.”Both the men and women took first in the 400-yard freestyle relay.In the diving well, senior Darian Schmidt, who competed at the USA Diving National Championships last month, won the one-meter competition. His score of 455.75 was just five points off his own school record.The men’s team went 2-3 in the one-meter competition with Emad Abdelatif finishing second and Schmidt third.Kate Hillman was the lone Hoosier competing for the women’s team. She placed third on the one-meter and fourth on the one-meter.After enjoying this win, the team will go back to work to prepare for back-to-back meets in the coming weeks.“I think we’re set up for Big Tens perfectly,” Vrooman said. “We’re seeing constant improvement as meets go along. It was a little hard to get back into racing again today because it’s been awhile, but we’ll see even more improvement the next two meets coming up.”
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After more than a month without competition, the IU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will start the second half of their season this weekend as they travel to Iowa City.The swimming teams haven’t competed since Dec. 8 at the United States Swimming Winter Nationals. After a short break, the Hoosiers were back in practice to begin the year. With the bad weather at the beginning of last week, they were forced to condense six days of training down to five.IU Coach Ray Looze said he saw fatigue during that stretch, but his swimmers were able to accomplish what they needed to as they added power and speed to the training equation.“We dropped our volume and added more quality, which was all part of the plan,” he said. “We’re ready to get back and start competing again.”Junior swimmer Justine Ress said winter break was a good time for the team to start focusing more on the details.“It’s just very race-oriented,” she said. “We really focus on the little things right now, especially in January preparing for Big Tens and all these dual meets.”The women will compete against Big Ten foes Iowa and Illinois, as well as Missouri. Freshman breaststroker Heather Hayes has returned to practice after suffering from mononucleosis, and injured sophomore Siri Kristiansen is also back. The two won’t compete this weekend, but Looze said it’s “nice to be whole again.”The men’s team will face Iowa and No. 7 Missouri.Not only does this meet kick off the second half of the season, but it opens Big Ten play. Looze said though Iowa always presents stiff competition, it’s nothing new for his team.“We’ve been through the wringer, both the women and the men, so I don’t think it’ll be anything they haven’t seen,” Looze said. “We may be a little rusty having not competed since early December, but hopefully that’ll get shaken off really quick.”Outside of conference competition, the women will face a Southeastern Conference opponent in Missouri. Ress said it’s exciting for them to see a non-conference team, but Iowa and Illinois will prepare them more for the future.“We have three back-to-back-to-back dual meets in the month of January after having such a long stretch of not competing,” she said. “I think they (Iowa and Illinois) will be a good competitor to gauge how the Big Ten is doing just in general.”The diving team is back in competition mode this weekend as well.Seniors Darian Schmidt, Kate Hillman and redshirt freshman Jessica Parratto competed at the U.S. Diving National Championships at the end of December. IU Coach Drew Johansen said they started slow but got better toward the end of the week.Parratto took gold in the synchronized event, putting up the highest score (370) in the final round. Schmidt was second in the men’s three-meter synchronized. Their success earned them spots on the U.S. National Team.Johansen said training has been great during break, especially because renovations to the diving well are now complete.“We’ve added a water belt system to the one- and three-meter that is a game changer for these guys,” he said. “We’re really excited to have the new tools in our hands, and the team is doing really well.”Both the swimming and diving teams have had weeks of practice to prepare for the second half of their season. But it’s not just progress in the pool that has been encouraging.The team had a first semester cumulative GPA of 3.1, with more than eight men and eight women earning a 3.5 or better. Looze said he hopes this success translates from the classroom to the pool.“Whenever you have really good academics, it typically coincides with a really good season because you’ve got people that are super committed to a lot of parts of their life,” he said.As a first-year coach, Johansen said the break was a chance to get to know his team better.“We’ve gone through a full training cycle, competitions, a little bit of a break and now we’ve come back and we’re all speaking the same language right away,” Johansen said. “A lot of trust has been gained on both sides of the fence, and that just accelerates the learning process.”Follow reporter Grace Palmieri on Twitter @GPalmieri7.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Both Big Ten weekly swimming honors went to members of the IU women’s swim team this week. The Big Ten announced Tuesday senior distance swimmer Lindsay Vrooman is the Big Ten Swimmer of the Week and freshman Gia Dalesandro is the Big Ten Freshman of the Week.Last weekend at the AT&T USA Winter National Championships, Vrooman earned silver in the 1,650-meter freestyle event. Her time of 15:54.68 was an NCAA automatic qualifying mark and the third best time in IU history. In the 200-meter and 800-meter freestyle Vrooman posted NCAA B cuts, earning her a position at the NCAAs if enough spots remain in the field. This is Vrooman’s second career Big Ten Swimmer of the Week award, achieving both this season.For Dalesandro, this is also the second time she has been honored this year. She placed sixth in both the 100-meter and 200-meter butterfly, earning NCAA B cuts in each event. Dalesandro was part of the 400-meter medley relay team that won bronze with an NCAA qualifying time of 3:34.13.The Hoosiers will resume competition Jan. 18, traveling to Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes, Missouri and Big Ten foe Illinois.— Grace Palmieri
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On the final day of competition, a silver, bronze and 400-meter relay school record closed out the USA Winter Nationals in Knoxville, Tenn., for IU swimming.Senior Lindsay Vrooman took silver in the 1,650-meter freestyle and sophomore Brooklynn Snodgrass won bronze in the 200-meter backstroke.Vrooman went head-to-head against 16-year-old Olympic Gold Medalist Katie Ledecky in the 1,650-meter freestyle. Ledecky shattered the meet record by almost 10 seconds. With a second-place finish, Vrooman still earned the third fastest time in IU history (15 minutes and 54.68 seconds) and an NCAA A-cut, which means she automatically qualifies for the NCAA Championships.She said the level of competition the team faced this weekend will be helpful later in the season.“There’s just a lot of outside competition like Cal and a lot of other non-college athletes are here, so it really gives us a chance to see where we’re at,” Vrooman said. “It gives us a variety of people to race against, and it’s kind of an atmosphere like NCAAs, so I think that helps us get prepared for Big Tens and NCAAs down the road.”In the mile, sophomore Haley Lips finished 10th in her first swim in the event. In the 200-meter backstroke, Snodgrass took third place with a time of one minute and 52.64 seconds, another NCAA A-cut. “I think we had kind of a slower start to the meet, but we finished well, so it was nice to come together as a team on the last day,” Snodgrass said.To close out the three-day meet, senior Kait Flederbach, junior Cynthia Pammett, senior Stephanie Armstrong and Snodgrass posted a school record in the 400-meter freestyle relay. They finished fourth with a time of three minutes and 16.72 seconds, an NCAA qualifying time.Other top finishes for the women included senior Bronwyn Pasloski’s fifth-place in the 200-meter breaststroke championship final. She clocked in with a -season-best time of one minute and 0.2 seconds.Senior Brenna MacLean was fourth in the 200-meter butterfly, posting the fifth-fastest time in school history. Freshman Gia Dalesandro finished sixth.IU Coach Ray Looze left Knoxville satisfied with how his women’s team performed.“We just swam great from the start of the meet to the finish, so overall we were really pleased,” he said. “We went up against some of the better teams in the NCAA. Cal Berkley has easily got the best team in the country, and we stood up well against them I thought.”On the men’s side, senior Eric Ress placed fourth in the 200-meter backstroke. He just missed an NCAA A-cut with a season-best time of 1:41.58. In the same event, junior Steve Schmuhl was 10th overall and senior James Wells was 13th.Senior Cody Miller finished sixth in the 200-meter breaststroke. Schmuhl won the consolation final of the 200-meter butterfly to place ninth overall.Looze was impressed with the way his older guys competed.“I was really pleased with James Wells. I thought he had a fantastic meet. Eric Ress and Cody Miller finished very strong today, as did Steve Schmuhl,” he said. Although the team struggled acclimating to the high-level competition to begin the meet, Looze said he thought they finished strong.“You have to be an experienced swimmer to have a lot of success at this competition, whether it’s Lindsay Vrooman in the mile or Eric Ress in the 200 back tonight,” he said. On Friday, both teams combined had seven top-eight finishes. Both the men’s and women’s teams finished fourth overall. Snodgrass is encouraged with where they are at the halfway point of the season.“I think we’re going to surprise a lot of people at Big Tens,” she said. “We weren’t even rested for this meet, so people can expect even more from us in the future.”Follow swimming and diving reporter Grace Palmieri on Twitter @gpalmieri7.
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The IU swimming team completed the first day of the three-day USA Swimming Winter National Championships on Thursday.The day’s events included the 200 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle and the 400 medley relay.The best swim of the day was the last one, as the relay team of sophomore Brooklynn Snodgrass, senior Bronwyn Pasloski, freshman Gia Dalesandro and senior Kait Flederbach took bronze in the 400-medley relay. Their time of three minutes and 34.13 seconds is an NCAA qualifying standard.In the championship finals, senior Lindsay Vrooman took fourth in the 500-meter freestyle and Haley Lips was seventh, posting a season-best time of four minutes and 42.86 seconds. Flederbach, Snodgrass, junior Cynthia Pammett and senior Stephanie Armstrong placed sixth in the 200 freestyle relay.Also for the women, Dorina Szekeres and Pasloski made it past the morning qualifying rounds to compete in the 200 individual medley finals. Szekeres placed 15th overall in the consolation final. Pasloski won her heat in the bonus final to finish 17th overall and posted a career best, one minute and 59.85.Flederbach swam the 50 freestyle in 22.57 seconds in the preliminary rounds, which is a NCAA B-cut and season best for her.For the men, junior Steve Schmuhl placed eighth in the championship final of the 200 individual medley. In the consolation final, senior Cody Miller was 10th with a season-best time of one minute and 45.95 seconds. Junior Mike Hurley finished 18th in the bonus final.Eric Ress and Jackson Miller both posted season-best times in the 500 freestyle. Ress placed 13th and Miller was 21st.The competition continues today in Knoxville, as the Hoosiers compete in the 200 medley relay, 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 800 freestyle relay events.- Grace Palmieri