140 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(03/25/12 3:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After months of preparation for about a three-minute race, the 2012 Little 500 season officially kicked off Saturday at Bill Armstrong Stadium.With 43 teams competing for only 33 spots, the men’s 2012 Little 500 qualifications saw the formation of what will be the deepest Little 500 field since the year 2000, as the Cutters try for their sixth-consecutive title. At the top of this year’s field though will be Beta Theta Pi, after finishing with the fastest qualifying time out of the 43 teams, clocking in at 2:21.05. Rounding out the field will be Pi Kappa Psi, who finished 33rd in a time of only 2:32.84. "As far as the team goes, we are obviously very excited to have produced the top time,” Beta Theta Pi rider Tom Laser said. “Although winning the pole was not particularly high on our agenda for the spring, a little confidence boost going into the racing season is always a good thing.”As the sixth men’s team onto the track Saturday, Beta Theta Pi sprinted to the top finish, led by smooth exchanges. The team’s first place time was nearly five seconds faster than what Sigma Nu posted this past year, when that team took the pole in a time of 2:25.91. After 37 other teams took to the track to try to unseat Beta at the top, none were successful in doing so. “We stepped onto the track intent on getting it done in one clean run, so as not to have to come back out with even more pressure resting on our shoulders,” Laser said. “On the track, we placed a strong emphasis on being cautious with the exchanges and making sure to watch for loose cinders going into turn three. With a lot of practice runs and experience behind us, we finished up a clean run in a good time of 2:21.05.”Coming in second and competing in the first row of the Little 500 was CSF Cycling, only in their second year of existence. After this past year’s 18th place qualifications finish and 23rd place finish in the actual race, CSF showed marked improvement in Saturday’s 2:22.38 track time.“As a second year team I have been blessed to be around a group of guys who put the team first and not their individual ambitions,” CSF captain Tyler Hird said. “I don’t think we expected to be on the front row, but had a goal of qualifying in the top 10 and have been blessed to see our focus and hard work translate into results.” Rounding out the first row will be the Black Key Bulls, who finished qualifying in a time of 2:23.21, followed by Phi Delta Theta (2:23.92), Fiji (2:24.85) and Sigma Nu (2:24.99) in Row 2. After losing star rider and future national champion Eric Young to graduation, the five-time defending champion Cutters found themselves in a bit of a hole after Saturday’s results transpired. The Cutters finished in eighth place with a time of 2:26.07, meaning they will be in the third row come race day."I think the team performed really well today," Cutters rider Kevin Depasse said. "Our exchanges were safe and fast, and we'll be racing in the 2012 Little 500 - something some teams take for granted. Racing in this crazy, beautiful race is an honor and a privilege. It's a true spring classic."The 2012 Little 500 qualifications also signified the return of multiple programs back into the spotlight. Amongst those returning to the field include Lambda Chi Alpha (last appearance 2010), Pi Kappa Phi (2009), Zeta Beta Tau (2010), Phi Kappa Tau (2008) and Forest (2006).In addition, Alpha Epsilon Pi will return to its first Little 500 since 2007, after being sidelined for three seasons during a fraternity suspension. AEPi finished 19th in Saturday’s qualifying, with a time of 2:29.54.Rounding out the field will be Amalgan in 31st place (2:32.34), Kappa Sigma in 32nd (2:32.61) and Phi Kappa Psi in 33rd. Those who just missed qualifying included Kappa Delta Rho (2:33.42) and Beta Sigma Psi (2:34.12).Next up for the riders will be the Individual Time Trials, which will be on Wednesday, March 28, starting at 4 p.m. That, and multiple other events will all lead to the big race, Saturday, April 21st , to determine the winner of the 62nd Little 500.“For us, we want to be competitive and successful this year and in the future,” Hird said. “For us to maintain success though, we need to stay motivated and keep working hard and step up our level of preparation and determination to an entirely different level.”
(03/24/12 11:19pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After a day of more than 10 and a half hours of biking action, the poles for the 2012 Little 500 have been decided.Beta Theta Pi won the men's 2012 Little 500 pole after earning the fastest time in Saturday's qualifications at 2:21.05, nearly five seconds faster than last year's pole time of 2:25.91, set by Sigma Nu. Two-time defending women's champion Teter showed that it can survive without star rider Caitlin Van Kooten, as the team won the women's pole with a time of 2:42.95.Rounding out the first row and top three qualifications finishers for the men's field include CSF Cycling (2:22.38) and the Black Key Bulls (2:23.91). CSF improved on last year's 18th place qualifications finish, where they finished with a time of 2:34.23.Meanwhile, the five-time defending champion in the men's race, the Cutters, finished eighth in Saturday's qualifications, finishing with a time of 2:26.07. Rounding out the field in 33rd place was Phi Kappa Psi, who barely made the field in a time of 2:32.85.In the women's field, Delta Gamma raced to a second place finish with a time of 2:44.19, and Army Women overcame the loss of every rider other than senior Aileen Ottenweller, as they finished third with a time of 2:44.37. Last year's Little 500 runner up Pi Beta Phi dropped to 22nd place in this year's qualifications, earning a time of 3:02.61.
(03/23/12 2:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The wait is just about done.After months of preparation, the women’s cycling teams are set to take the track Saturday for the 2012 Little 500 Qualifications, in which the fastest 33 teams to complete four laps will advance to the Little 500 on Friday, April 20.“The Student Foundation is thrilled to host the 2012 Little 500 Qualifications on Saturday,” IUSF Assistant Director and Little 500 Race Coordinator Jordan Bailey said. “Up until this point, the Little 500 Cycling Committee has been very diligent in taking care of all the small details that go into putting on the event. On Saturday, it will be about putting those plans and preparation into action.”Heading into this year’s qualifications, track conditions could potentially have a major effect on how teams perform. Throughout the week, weather conditions have been hot and dry, meaning that the track could run loose and be hard to ride.However on Saturday, the forecast is due to be 65 degrees with a 40 percent chance of rain, indicating that conditions could be perfect for fast racing.For Army Women rider senior Aileen Ottenweller, she and her team are prepared for whatever track conditions there might be when her team runs its qualification heat at 12:45 p.m. Saturday afternoon.“We are used to practicing and racing in all types of weather conditions,” Ottenweller said. “Quals is about fast lap times and fast exchanges, and that will always be our strategy.”During this past year’s race, the Army Women’s squad finished fourth overall with a time of 1:12:32, far behind last year’s champion Teter. However, this Army Women team returns Ottenweller, who finished in fifth in last year’s Individual Time Trials. For Army Women, and for any team, finishing well in qualifications is pivotal.“For us, performing well again this year means having an easier time staying toward the front of the pack,” Ottenweller said. “Everyone on the track is capable of going fast for a lap, so it will come down to fluid and fast exchanges and being able to exert as much power as humanly possible per lap.”In a year in which many teams will be trying to deal with the loss of a major rider, including Pi Beta Phi’s Caroline Brown and Delta Gamma’s Kelsey Kent, two-time defending champion Teter will attempt to cope with the loss of the defending Individual Time Trials and Miss-N-Out Champion Caitlin Van Kooten.Trying to fill Van Kooten’s shoes will be sophomore Emma Caughlin, who last year finished ninth in Individual Time Trials, the second-fastest on the Teter squad.Because so many teams lost top talent, this year’s Little 500 has no clear favorite as of yet. It will also be the fourth time ever in the 25-year history of the women’s event that a full field of 33 teams will be competing. Saturday’s results could set the tone for what will be a very exciting month to come.“Exceptionally good riders come and go. When two or three leave, inevitably, there are other riders that improve their fitness from year to year to fill that void,” Bailey said. “I think that this year, both the men and women’s fields will be balanced and competitive, leading to exciting races to watch for all of our fans.”
(03/22/12 3:17am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Coming off last season’s 18th-place finish at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, led by then-sophomore Eric Ress’ two runner-up finishes in both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke, the IU men’s swimming and diving team will have to look elsewhere this year to earn points. Heading into this year’s NCAA Championships this weekend in Federal Way, Wash., 10 members of the IU men’s swimming and diving team will attempt to improve on last year’s mark and earn the Hoosiers’ first individual champion since 2008 and potentially the first diving champion since 1990.The Hoosiers will have to do it this year without Ress, as he is in Dunkerque, France, competing in the French National Championships and Olympic Trials.“It means a lot to have the opportunity to compete at this meet,” junior diver Zac Nees said. “We also have the largest guys diving team at this meet, which is a big advantage. We are going to miss Ress’ points because he would have a shot at winning two events and he would make the relays faster, but we still have a chance to do well.”The Hoosiers will have multiple chances to break the 21-year diving drought as the three 2012 NCAA Zone C Diving Champions will be competing in the meet. On Thursday, the 1-meter Zone C Champion Nees will try for the national title in the event, competing against teammates junior Mick Dell’Orco and sophomore Darian Schmidt. Nees was the winner of eight events throughout the season.“My results this season give me confidence to be consistent enough to do well, but I know the level of competition out there,” Nees said. “I will really have to step up in order to place in the top 3, but I am looking forward to this meet.”Come Friday, Schmidt, the 3-meter Zone C Champion and IU school record holder, will look to earn a national title for the Hoosiers. In the zone meet, Schmidt barely beat Ohio State’s Shane Miszkiel by a 3.25-point margin to win the title, while Nees finished third, only 16.75 points behind. On Saturday, sophomore Conor Murphy will compete in his best event — the platform dive — after running away with the Zone C title in the event by an 86.95-point mark. “A National Title would mean a lot to anyone on our team to win going into such a big summer for diving,” Nees said. “Since it is an Olympic year, we have Olympic Trials and Summer Nationals this summer. It would be a huge boost of confidence moving into the summer season, and would be a huge statement to the level of effort everyone on our team has been putting in all year long.”On the swimming end, sophomore Cody Miller could give the Hoosiers their first breaststroke title since 1965, when Tom Trethewey won the 200-yard breaststroke in an overall second-place effort. Miller, the Big Ten Champion in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke for the second straight year, is seeded in the top five for both events.In addition to Miller, the Hoosiers will also look to sophomore James Wells and juniors Sam Trahin and Jim Barbiere to improve on this past season’s 18th-place finish. Wells is seeded in the top 15 in both the 100- and 200-yard backstroke, Trahin in the 400-yard Individual Medley and Barbiere in the 500-yard freestyle. In addition, the Hoosiers will compete in the 200-yard medley relay, where points are doubled.“I think we have a good shot of moving up in the ranks,” Nees said.” We have a lot more potential in diving points, and all of our swimmers are ready to finish the season out strong. Our team goal is to try to break the top 10, so we will see how it pans out.”
(03/19/12 3:36am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Heading into her potentially final meet of her collegiate career at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Auburn, Ala., senior Allysa Vavra hoped to have one final hoorah in an illustrious career. Vavra, a senior and an IU record holder in three events, had an opportunity to win three national championships in the 200- and 400-yard Individual Medley and the 200-yard breaststroke after qualifying in the top eight in each event. Though she didn’t win any of those events, much like the resounding theme of the Hoosiers at the NCAA Championships, the Hoosiers extended their streak to nine consecutive NCAA meets in which the team has finished in the top 15 after finishing in 13th place with 115 points.“We moved up from last year, so that’s an improvement,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “We would have loved to be top 10 ultimately, but we took a step in the right direction.”Heading into the meet with 13 members of the team competing, the Hoosiers had a chance to eclipse the record ninth-place finish set in 2005. However, the team missed multiple opportunities to score points in other events. The Hoosiers had false starts in multiple events, ranging from 400-yard freestyle relay to senior Margaux Farrell in the 100-yard freestyle and sophomore Brenna MacLean in the 200-yard Individual Medley. Sophomore diver Laura Ryan injured her shoulder in the preliminaries of the platform dive after qualifying for the consolation final.“When you enter the meet, you enter everybody in every possible event they can qualify for,” Looze said. “But if there’s no chance they can score, we pair down. Especially in Laura Ryan’s situation, an athlete’s health is always more important than a place or two in the national rankings.”However, in a meet where earning points is such a rare opportunity, Vavra capitalized on the opportunities she had. By finishing sixth in the 200-yard IM prelims, second in the 400-yard IM prelims and eighth in the 200-yard breast prelims, she guaranteed the Hoosiers points for the overall competition. After finishing eighth in the 200 IM finals (1:56.60), fifth in the 400 IM finals (4:01.73) and eighth in the 200 breast finals (2:09.61), Vavra compiled 36 points for the Hoosiers, or 31 percent of IU’s total scoring output.“I definitely am happy that I placed higher this year and made big finals in all of my events, but I’m kind of disappointed in my times,” Vavra said. “My points really helped our team, though, especially because we only were entered in one relay.”Sophomore Lindsay Vrooman also improved her standing from the 2011 NCAA Championships, where she finished 26th in the 500-yard freestyle and 28th in the 1,650-yard freestyle. This meet, the sophomore finished eighth in the 500-free in a time of 4:42.13, and then sixth in the 1,650-free in a time of 15:56.85, making her a two-event All-American in the process.“It’s been a huge improvement, and it couldn’t happen to a nicer person,” Looze said. “Our team was so excited for her success. A year ago at this time, she set her mind to certain goals that she wanted to accomplish for the collegiate season, and it’s safe to say she was one of our hardest workers.”The Hoosiers were also able to earn points through the diving portion of the competition, as Ryan finished 12th in the 1-meter dive with a score of 307.55 and eighth in the 3-meter dive, scoring 330.40 in the process. In addition, junior Amy Cozad placed third on the platform dive, finishing with 329.35 points on a total of only five dives. “Personally, I am very proud of myself and Laura for how we did,” Cozad said. “It was really cool to come back from the World Cup and show everyone that we’re good individually, too. I think we redeemed our London performance, in a way.”Though the collegiate season has ended for the Hoosiers, and the team will lose the likes of Farrell, Brittany Strumbel and Nikki White on the swimming end, the Hoosiers will add a top-13 recruiting class and could retain Vavra next season.“There’s a possibility Allysa could get another year of eligibility, so she’s not necessarily done,” Looze said. “I think we have a great foundation in place. We’re extremely excited about our future, so I’m very optimistic.”
(03/15/12 3:08am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Heading into the women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, which will be held from Thursday to Saturday in Auburn, Ala., IU Coach Ray Looze said this team is unlikely to win the team’s first-ever NCAA title. With 11 swimmers competing in 12 events, including the 800-yard freestyle relay, plus two divers as well, Looze said that while this team is unlikely to win a national title, a long-standing goal is well within reach. In the 2005, the Hoosiers finished ninth at the NCAA Championships. These athletes hope to break that feat.“We have a chance to finish with our highest national ranking ever,” Looze said. “Although our ultimate goals are to get to a national title, you have to build to get to that point, and have a nice, realistic, step-by-step to do that.”Throughout the season, swimmers from IU have been working to achieve certain time standards so that they could qualify for the NCAA Championships. As 11 swimmers have reached that goal, the Hoosiers will have ample opportunities to score points and improve on last season’s 15th-place finish. Leading the way for the Hoosiers will be senior Margaux Farrell, who will be competing in four events: the 500-, 200- and 100-yard freestyles, and will be a part of the 800-yard freestyle relay team. Not only will she have to swim at least a mile of competition at the NCAA Championships, but only one day after NCAA Championships end, Farrell and freshman Justine Ress, also competing at NCAA’s, will board a plane en route to Dunkerque, France. There, they will compete in the French Olympic Trials, held this year from March 18-25. “I trained myself to be used to this (trio) of meets in a row since I was a freshman, so that when I would do it my senior year, the year of the Olympics, I would be ready to handle the trip,” Farrell said. “So while I know it is going to be exhausting and mentally challenging, I have been getting myself ready for this for a long time now.”Senior Allysa Vavra will also hope to get the Hoosiers’ second-ever NCAA swimming title. A school record holder in the 200-yard breaststroke, and 200- and 400-yard individual medley, Vavra will be a top-ten seed in each of those three events. Having not won an NCAA title in her career, this will be Vavra’s last opportunity to achieve her goal. “I'm not going into the meet thinking I will win an event; if it's meant to happen, it will,” Vavra said. “Right now it's more important to focus on myself and if I have the confidence, I am really capable of anything.”With this being the final opportunity for swimmers like Farrell and Vavr, and seniors Brittany Strumbel and Nikki White to win their first NCAA title in their careers, all their hard work over the last four years will culminate in this final meet. Win or lose, Farrell knows that there is not much she can do, as she has put in her total effort. “It would obviously be awesome to win a title at NCAAs whether it be relay or individual, but I’m not trying to focus so literally on the meet,” Farrell said. “I’m taking it one race at a time, one day at a time and giving it my all each time I step up on the block. So whatever the outcome is, I’ll be happy with it because I know there was nothing more I could have done.”
(03/09/12 3:45am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Heading into this season, sophomore diver Darian Schmidt had never eclipsed 400 points in the 3-meter dive, and junior diver Zac Nees had won only one event in his entire career.Now, with two weeks remaining until the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Federal Way, Wash., Schmidt is a Big Ten Champion, having scored the school record of 459.30 points in the 3-meter at the meet. Nees won seven events this year.After Thursday’s action at the NCAA Zone C Championships in Bloomington, the two can add yet another accolade to this season. Both Schmidt and Nees will advance to the NCAA Championships from March 22-24 after both finished in the top three in the 3-meter diving competition."It means all of our hard work throughout the season has paid off," Nees said. "Darian and I push each other a lot during practice, so it was nice to qualify along with him."Schmidt won the NCAA Zone C title after posting a score of 769.90 during a 12-dive span, though it came down to the final dive. After Schmidt’s 10th dive, he led Ohio State’s Shane Miszkiel by a 34.4-point margin. However, on his 11th dive, Schmidt scored only 40.25 points. After a 72.85-point dive by Miszkiel, the Buckeye had drawn within 1.8 points of Schmidt, but he was able to hold off Miszkiel on the final dive.Nees scored 146.55 points in his 10th and 11th dives to put himself in position to earn a bid to the NCAA Championships. On the last dive, had Nees scored more than 81.35 points, he would have won the title. However, he scored 64.6 points on his dive, still good for third place and an NCAA bid.In the women’s 1-meter dive, though no Hoosiers earned bids to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, IU had three top-10 finishers in the event. Senior Gabby Agostino was the highest finisher for the Hoosiers, as she placed seventh with a score of 573.85. Sophomore Laura Ryan finished in eighth with a score of 569.65, and sophomore Kate Hillman earned a score of 560.35 en route to a 10th-place finish. In addition, junior Amy Cozad finished 14th for the Hoosiers with a score of 529.80.Friday’s action will include the men’s 1-meter and the women’s 3-meter dives, as the Hoosiers look to seal more bids for their respective NCAA Championships. The top three finishers in each event who have not already qualified will advance to the championships.On Saturday, both the men and women will compete in the platform dive, in which the highest finisher who has not already qualified for nationals will make it.Nees said after qualifying on the first day, the final two will be much more relaxing."Coming in my plan was to try to qualify the first day so that I could relax and just dive the rest of the competition," Nees said. "I am really pleased with the results."
(03/08/12 4:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Starting Thursday, IU’s diving team will compete in the 2012 NCAA Zone C Diving Championships in Bloomington with the potential for divers to qualify for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships later this month.Throughout the span of the next three days, 113 divers will compete for 14 spots — seven spots per gender — for the NCAA Championships, with the top three finishers in the 1- and 3-meter and the top finisher in the platform dives advancing.With 15 Hoosiers competing, the pressure is on for the team to qualify divers for the NCAA Championships.“Only seven men and seven women will advance from this meet to the championship, so it will be tough,” IU Diving Coach Jeff Huber said. “Last year, the defending NCAA champion did not make it out of the zone meet. There will be some good divers at this meet that won’t advance.”Also competing will be Big Ten Champions Bianca Alvarez, Shane Miszkiel and Cheyenne Cousineau from OSU. With divers from 25 Midwest schools competing, IU will have fierce competition.“We are strong in all events and will therefore contest each event,” Huber said. “I think we learned a few things from Big Tens and will be better prepared for the zone meet.”IU divers include Big Ten 3-meter champion sophomore Darian Schmidt, who set the school record twice at the Championships. Schmidt recorded scores of 445.90 and 459.30 at the Big Ten Championships in February. “Darian has practiced very well and seems focused and dialed to what he wants to do to perform well at the NCAA Zone Championship,” Huber said. “It has been rewarding for me to watch his maturation as a diver and team leader ever since his high school state meet.”Sophomore Laura Ryan and junior Amy Cozad will also be competing. They missed this past month’s Big Ten Championships because of the FINA Diving World Cup in London. The duo finished 10th in the 10-meter synchronized platform dive, just outside of qualifying the United States for the Olympics in the event. For this meet, both will be competing in the 1-meter, 3-meter and platform dives.“We are, of course, excited to have both divers back and representing IU,” Huber said. “I know they are happy to be back and are excited for the meet.”The qualifiers will compete at the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships from March 15-17 in Auburn, Ala., while the men who qualify will compete in Federal Way, Wash., from March 22-24. Huber said the Hoosiers are ready to make a mark at the zone meet. “I think the divers have a good mindset for the competition,” Huber said. “They are definitely ready to perform even better than they did at Big Tens.”
(03/07/12 5:37am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Only one day before trying to qualify for the Olympic Trials in one of her favorite events, the 100-meter freestyle, IU sophomore swimmer Sara Delay found herself in the hospital with her life about to change. A 21-year-old from Concord, Calif., Delay was one of IU’s best freestyle sprinters as a freshman. She helped the Hoosiers win their third consecutive Big Ten title and was a member of an All-America freestyle relay team. She also qualified for an Olympic Trials spot in the 50-yard freestyle two weeks earlier, her life-long dream.However, on that day, Aug. 1, 2011, one day before she was expected to compete with her teammates in the 2011 ConocoPhillips USA Swimming National Championships in Palo Alto, Calif., a mere hour’s drive from home, Delay was admitted to Stanford Hospital with stomach pain.She spent the next 19 days in the hospital before leaving with a diagnosis of colitis and her way of life permanently altered.“We brought her out to nationals in the summer, and we were with her when she was admitted to the hospital, and we all just thought it would be something quick,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “She was even hopeful of swimming at the summer nationals, and then she was in a week, she was in two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, you know? It just got worse and worse and worse.”When Delay was released from Stanford Hospital on Aug. 20, 2011, her teammates had already returned to Bloomington with school about to begin. With her lingering illness, Delay faced a sobering reality: She wasn’t healthy enough to return to school.“I just found out that the way my recovery was going to be, it would take me a really long time to get back to where I was my freshman year,” Delay said. “I didn’t want to waste my year of eligibility, so the coaches and I thought it was a good idea for me to redshirt so that I could have it back for next year.”Unfortunately for Delay, her first hospitalization was one of many to come. As her colitis became more severe, Delay, with the help of her family, decided to have her colon removed Nov. 2, 2011. While her teammates trained nearly 2,000 miles away only days after a dual meet against Michigan and Texas, Delay lay in a hospital bed at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, about to undergo a life-changing surgery.“It was an emotional time, and I didn’t know what to think because I was 20 years old and I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, how could this be happening to me?’” Delay said. “It was a really hard time, and I knew it was the right thing for me to do to have my colon removed because I had no choice.”It’s been a long road for recovery ever since. After being released from UCSF one week after her surgery, she returned only 24 hours later due to an obstruction in her stomach, something Delay recalls being extremely painful. After being close to another surgery, Delay had to have a tube inserted through her nose to have the excess stomach fluids removed. Delay avoided a second surgery. However, she spent another week in the hospital.“It was a terrible night for me, and I seriously thought I wasn’t going to survive,” Delay said. “I thank UCSF Hospital for saving me. The only thing I hated the most was having a nose tube down my throat but that was the thing that was saving my life.”After her third hospitalization, Delay was released. Since then, she has not been in pain and has worked endlessly to get back in the pool. By late December, she was swimming again.“For most people, they just think that after they have this tragedy happen, they can’t go back to where they were, that they have to hide in a hole and they can’t go back to the things they love,” Delay said. “But for me, it wasn’t that way. Once I got out of the hospital, all I could think about was when would I get back in the water to compete and swim for IU and get back to my life.”Although she was unable to be in Indiana to support her team from the stands, Delay has been the swimming and diving team’s No. 1 fan.She consistently posted on teammates’ Facebook walls, wishing them luck, and even sent both the men’s and women’s teams cookie bouquets before their respective Big Ten Championships. She also sends the team text messages regularly. Looze confessed she is big on using emoticons. The day before the women’s Big Ten Championship started, the team dedicated the meet in Delay’s honor.“When I heard that, I never even thought of anyone doing that for me, and it made me cry actually,” Delay said. “That just meant that my teammates love me so much, and I love them too, and it was really cool that they did that for me. That’s what an IU team should be. They should help each other out through tough times.”Though her team finished second for that meet, Delay’s positivity throughout her entire ordeal inspired her teammates to perform to the best of their ability in the tough times, something that Delay herself lives by day in and day out.“Sara is one of the happiest people you’ll ever meet and loved swimming more than anyone,” senior Margaux Farrell said. “We decided she would be our inspiration for Big Ten’s at the beginning of the year when we found out she wouldn’t be coming back. It helps us remember that there is always a bigger purpose and how grateful we should be.”Delay is slowly returning to her normal routine. Though she remains home in California, Delay plans to return to IU in May, when she will begin training for the Olympic Trials — with her teammates. She also expects to return to swim for IU next season.“She’s still got a long road to recovery, but if anyone can do it, it will be Sara,” Looze said. “A 20-year-old girl shouldn’t lose her colon. That’s for 60- and 70-year-old people, and that’s still tough. But if there’s anyone that’s going to overcome this, it will be her.”
(02/27/12 3:22am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The situation was all too familiar to IU’s men’s swimming and diving team.After the platform dive drew the Hoosiers 1.5 points away from second place at the Big Ten Championships on Saturday, with only the 400-yard freestyle relay left in the entire competition, the Hoosiers had one last chance to jump Ohio State in the standings.The Hoosiers had done it before. On Friday, the 3-meter dive gave IU a lead against the Buckeyes, only for the team to lose it on the next race due to a false start on the final leg of the 400-yard medley relay.On Saturday, however, the Hoosiers were unable to finish higher than Ohio State in the 400 free relay, sealing a third-place finish with a total of 549 points, only 3.5 behind second-place Ohio State. Michigan won the title with 738.5 points.“There was just exceptional team chemistry,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “With everything we had to overcome, disqualifying a relay and losing 32 points there and not giving up, and Ryan Hinshaw fighting through his serious back injury to score in two events, I just have so much respect for the men.”Though IU started and ended the Big Ten Championships each day in third place, multiple record-setting dives and swims led by sophomore diver Darian Schmidt, sophomore swimmer Cody Miller and junior swimmer Sam Trahin allowed the Hoosiers to stay close to second-place Ohio State.Before starting the Big Ten Championships, Schmidt had never even eclipsed 400 points during the 3-meter dive in multiple attempts throughout his career. On Friday, that changed. During preliminaries, Schmidt easily broke the 400-point barrier, scoring 445.90 — not only a career-best, but the IU record, as well. Later that night, Schmidt set the record yet again, scoring 459.30 in the finals, good for his first career Big Ten title.The good fortunes continued for the Hoosiers as Miller, the defending Big Ten Champion in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, won each title for the second straight year, and in a record-setting fashion, as well. In the 100-yard on Friday, Miller raced a career-best time of 52.34 in the process of earning his third career Big Ten title, a school record.The following day, Miller raced the school’s second-best time ever of 1:54.07 en route to his fourth career title and second of the meet.“I’m pretty happy with my 200 breast,” Miller said. “I really wanted to break 1:54, but I’m OK with it. When I bent over on the block, my suit ripped in the ass, and that got my adrenaline pumping, so I took it out a little fast and accidentally changed my race strategy.”Following Miller’s first title in the 100-yard breaststroke, IU sophomore James Wells upset Michigan’s Miguel Ortiz in the 100-yard backstroke, winning his first career title in a time of 46.30. Wells’ time was not only his career best, but it was also only 0.03 seconds faster than Ortiz, who had finished first in prelims by a 0.16-second margin.“I knew before the race that Ortiz was going to be gaining on me during the last 25 of the 100 back,” Wells said. “My race strategy going into it was to build each 25 and try to get out ahead of Ortiz and then just give it everything I had during that last 25. I figured at that point, it would be a battle of mental toughness and who wanted to win it more, so that’s what I tried to prepare myself for beforehand.”Though IU did not win another title out of the four among Schmidt, Wells and Miller, Trahin did earn a school record in the 400-yard individual medley in a fourth-place effort. Trahin’s time of 3:46.49 was also the best of his career.The Hoosiers also picked up significant points from sophomore diver Emad Abdelatif, who had planned on redshirting this season before competing this past weekend. Abdelatif, who was training to represent Egypt in the FINA Diving World Cup, was told by the Egyptian government only days earlier that he could no longer compete, and he instead decided to participate in the Big Ten Championships and avoid the redshirt season. Abdelatif ended up finishing fourth in the 1-meter dive, 15th in the 3-meter dive and 11th in the platform dive. He also picked up IU’s Sportsmanship Award for the Championships.“He was our sportsman of the year because of that. You would have never known that he had just suffered just a totally crushing setback, having an Olympic opportunity extinguished,” Looze said. “You just would have never known that with his attitude at this meet, so I’m just proud all the way around.”IU Diving Coach Jeff Huber was also named Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year, the 14th of his career. Despite the season being over for most swimmers, seven members of the Hoosiers’ swimming team will compete in the NCAA Championships from March 22-24 in Federal Way, Wash. The Hoosiers could potentially send more, depending on how their divers do in the NCAA Zone C Championships, which will be from March 8-10 in Bloomington.“We had lots of success as a team, and I am very proud of them,” Miller said. “Though it’s disappointing we finished third because we know we are better than that, next year’s Big Ten Championships will be a different story because we are only getting better.”
(02/22/12 4:12am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Only three days after IU’s women’s swimming and diving team finished second at the Big Ten Championships, the men’s team is on the road back to Iowa City, Iowa.The No. 11 men’s team is preparing for the start of the Big Ten Championships on Wednesday in its quest to earn its 25th conference title and first since 2006.“The past two weeks, as we’ve tapered down, the guys have swam faster than we ever have before,” sophomore swimmer Cody Miller said. “The team is feeling really confident going into the meet. We know we are going to do some great things.”The Hoosiers are coming off last year’s Big Ten performance, during which they earned a second-place finish, only 74 points behind the eventual champion, Michigan. This season they faced the Wolverines twice and have lost on both occasions.“Yeah, we lost to them in season, but that doesn’t matter,” Miller said. “No one cares what happens in a dual meet at the end of the year. The only thing that matters is the final meet, where it all counts.”During this past year’s Big Ten Championships, IU won only three events, two of which were from Miller in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke races. Though junior Eric Ress, the other winner, will not compete due to his preparation for the French Olympic Trials, the athletes said they are optimistic they will get more wins. “It’s going to take all of us performing better than we ever have before, which we are absolutely prepared to do, especially our younger guys,” Miller said. “We have a large group of young guys and freshmen who are still under the radar, but they are all ready to prove themselves at this meet.”One of the people IU hopes can provide them with some wins is junior diver Zac Nees, who has won seven events this season, compared to one during his first two seasons. “My diving was really in a slump during this championship meet last season, and that taught me that everyone has their day to shine,” he said. “I learned that anyone can step up in finals, and to never take anything for granted.”IU also has returning junior divers Mick Dell’Orco and Casey Johnson and sophomores Darian Schmidt and Conor Murphy.“The divers are all really confident that we can play a huge role in the outcome of this meet,” Nees said. “Michigan does not really have any of the top divers in the Big Ten, so we have to get every point we can in order to win.”The Hoosiers should also get a boost from freshman Steve Schmuhl and junior Sam Trahin. Schmuhl, who is 6-feet-8-inches tall, currently owns the IU top times this season in the 200-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke and 100-yard butterfly, and he is a member of the top time teams of the 400-yard freestyle relay, 800-yard freestyle relay, 200-yard medley relay and 400-yard medley relay. In addition, Trahin owns the two top times in the 400-yard Individual Medley this season and has top-five times in the 200-yard IM and 200-yard breaststroke.Schmuhl said he is excited for his fist opportunity at the Big Ten Championships.“I hope to have a great impact at my first Big Tens,” Schmuhl said. “I’m going with some pretty good times, so I’m hoping to really help the team out in the 200 backstroke because Ress, last year’s Big Ten champ, is redshirting this season.”The key for IU, Miller said, is to do well in preliminaries so that it has the opportunity to earn points in finals. If that happens, he said, the team has a good shot to win.“(Winning) would mean everything to our team,” Nees said. “That is our goal, and achieving it would make every struggle and hardship we went through this season worth it. We have to have an incredible meet in order to win, but it is definitely in the realm of possibility.”
(02/21/12 2:14am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>More than 4,000 miles away from where their teammates were battling in the Big Ten Championships, IU divers junior Amy Cozad, sophomore Laura Ryan and IU Diving Coach Jeff Huber intently followed the results of the competition live online.They couldn’t be in Iowa City, Iowa, helping IU in its quest for a fourth consecutive Big Ten title. Instead, they were at the Olympic Village in London, preparing for an opportunity of a lifetime. On Wednesday, Cozad and Ryan will compete in the FINA Diving World Cup in the women’s 10-meter synchronized dive, with the opportunity to qualify the United States for the 2012 London Olympics.“In London, right now, it is such a unique experience to be in the Olympic Park and training in the Olympic Pool,” Ryan said. “It really is a dream come true to be over here, but we know we have a job to get done.”The chance to reach this came from the 2012 USA Diving Winter National Championships in December 2011 in Knoxville, Tenn., where the duo competed in the 10-meter synchronized dive against teams that had been in the Olympics in 2008 and teams that had beaten them only two weeks prior. If they finished in first place, they would qualify for the World Cup, in which the world’s best divers would compete.“It came down to our last dive, and we had to hit that dive well to win,” Cozad said. “We were the last team of the competition. We had to score big, and everyone in the crowd was biting their nails counting on us. Given such a high-pressured situation, Laura and I used our trust in each other, in our coaches and our training to keep us focused and ready to show the audience what we had been working on.”The pair defeated the 2008 USA Olympics team of Mary-Beth Dunnichay and Haley Ishimatsu by a mere 6.12 points, sealing their trip to the World Cup. “I remember looking up at the scoreboard and seeing we’d won and just thinking how great it felt to know that all our hard work was paying off,” Ryan said. “Being an athlete at this level comes with a lot of sacrifices, and to have a meet like that just makes it all that much more worth it.”Soon after that meet, however, they realized the World Cup would intervene with the timeline of the Big Ten Championships. Faced with the tough choice, Huber and IU Coach Ray Looze agreed that the divers’ Olympic dreams were more important. With that, the pair headed to London with Huber as their trainer.While the two divers and Huber were only able to keep up with the meet via the Internet, the IU swimming and diving team placed second in the Big Ten Championships.“It was very bittersweet,” Ryan said. “I was beyond excited to be given this opportunity to compete in London, but there was definitely a part of me that wishes I were able to compete at Big Tens. But it came down to a choice, and I knew the team would be understanding. They have always been such a great support system.”The pair has trained with Huber for about a week in London. The two will compete against the best synchronized divers in the world from 13 other countries. Four countries have already qualified, and if the two Hoosiers finish in the top four of the remaining nine competitors, the U.S. ticket will be booked for the London 2012 Olympics. The pair would then have to qualify for a spot for themselves at the Olympic Trials in June in Seattle.“We are one of the best synchro teams in the world, and we proved that in Tennessee,” Cozad said. “I imagined this opportunity many times, and we have put in the hard work and dedication to get here. Now it’s time to show the rest of the world why we are the best.”
(02/20/12 4:35am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>With only two events to go in the Big Ten Championships, the IU women’s swimming and diving team had its closest deficit from first-place Minnesota since Wednesday, the first day of the competition.As the Hoosiers trailed by only 4.5 points after the 200-yard butterfly and started the day 40 points behind, the team had an opportunity to get its first lead of the entire meet and, in turn, earn its fourth-consecutive Big Ten title. The platform dive and 400-yard freestyle relay were the only events remaining.Unfortunately for IU, that magical comeback never came as the Gophers sealed their fourth Big Ten title in the final event of the championships, beating the Hoosiers by a 680.4-651 margin. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a team under more pressure than this group was under,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “To be as down by as many as we were going into the last day, to rally the way we did. I don’t know if I’ve ever been prouder of a group.“Even though we fell short of winning the championship, more was achieved by overcoming adversity, by not giving up and by finding a way to break through when everyone was counting us out.”The Hoosiers’ overall performance was led by senior swimmer Allysa Vavra, who set three school records during the four-day meet and earned the Swimmer of the Championships award. Vavra’s most notable performance came in the 400-yard individual medley, in which her time of 4:01.41 in the finals not only set the school and Big Ten records by nearly a three-second margin, but was also the third-fastest of any collegiate swimmer this season and the 15th-fastest ever recorded.“The time is really good, but I am still looking to go faster at NCAAs,” Vavra said. “The 400 IM is my best, so I am comfortable and used to performing at a high level. I know what I am capable of, so I just used it to my advantage. Hopefully, at NCAAs I can go under four minutes.”Vavra also set the school record in the 200-yard individual medley twice Thursday — once in preliminaries and again in the finals. Her final time of 1:55.44 was only 0.03 seconds shy of the conference record, but was good enough for the Big Ten Championships meet record and an NCAA A Cut qualifying mark. On Saturday, in a third-place finish in the 200-yard breaststroke finals, Vavra broke her own school record with a time of 2:08.79, also an NCAA A Cut qualifying time. “I’m not really surprised that I swam well un-tapered,” Vavra said. “I know I am capable of swimming fast tired, and I think it just comes down to being confident in yourself and trusting your training. I also have been to this meet before and knew what to expect of myself, so I just tried my hardest, and if that resulted in best times, then that’s even better.”IU also set a Big Ten record in the second event of the entire meet in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The team of seniors Brittany Strumbel, Margaux Farrell and Nikki White along with sophomore Lindsay Vrooman combined for a first-place time of 7:00.82, an NCAA A Cut qualifying mark, and the second-fastest of any team in the country this season. “It was exciting to set that record and show that we are a presence in that relay,” Farrell said. “Hopefully, we will get to showcase what we’re capable of on the national scene at Auburn at NCAAs.”Vrooman provided the only other win for the Hoosiers during the meet by winning the 1,650-yard freestyle Saturday with a time of 16:00.44, the third-fastest in school history and her first career individual Big Ten title. In all three diving events, senior Gabby Agostino came up big for the Hoosiers by finishing in the top eight. Agsotino finished fourth in the 1-meter, third in the 3-meter and sixth in the platform, carrying the team on her back while two of IU’s top divers, junior Amy Cozad and sophomore Laura Ryan, were not in attendance for the meet. The duo is currently in London preparing for the synchronized diving competition at next week’s FINA Diving World Cup.“I think our diving team fought hard through this competition,” Agostino said. “Half of the divers that went to the meet were injured and hadn’t been training. They stepped up for the team and dove the best they could.” Despite never holding the lead, the Hoosiers went from being in third place after day two to second after day three, only 40 points behind Minnesota. After the Hoosiers trimmed the deficit to 4.5 points, the closest they had been since the 800-yard freestyle relay, Minnesota extended the lead to 23.5 points after having three top-16 finishers in the platform dive, compared to IU’s one.Coming down to the final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay, the Hoosiers actually had an opportunity to win it all. Had Minnesota finished seventh or worse, and had the Hoosiers won the event, Indiana would have been crowned Big Ten champions for the fourth consecutive time. That hope never came to fruition, as the Hoosiers finished in sixth and the Gophers in third.“I thought that, after the prelims yesterday, we had a chance,” Looze said. “I thought we put ourselves in position, and we needed the mile and the platform to go well to finish it off. We got within four points before the platform, but they extended the lead, and at that point there was just not enough points to close the gap. We had to be perfect to win, but we did what we could do with the players we had available.”Though the season is over for some, the team will start training today for the NCAA Championships, which will take place from March 15 to 17 in Auburn, Ala. This past year, the Hoosiers finished in 15th place, and the team will try to improve this year.“There’s always something that you can look back on, that you could have done better, whether that be from the coaches, swimmers or divers, so we’ll go back to the drawing board to try to get it right,” Looze said. “I think we’ve got a real good team moving into the NCAAs, and our goal now is to finish as high as we have in our history. I think we’ve got a good enough team to be able to do that.”
(02/17/12 5:33am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Despite another record-setting day at the Big Ten Championships, Indiana’s women’s swimming and diving team has a lot of work to do if it wants a fourth consecutive Big Ten title.Though IU won three of the four preliminaries held earlier in the day, the Hoosiers were only able to garner one victory in the finals out of the five races, leaving the Hoosiers in third place with 203 points, trailing first place Minnesota by 32 points and second place Ohio State by 19. Senior swimmer Allysa Vavra set the school record in the 200-yard Individual Medley on Thursday not once, but twice. In the preliminaries, Vavra finished her heat with a time of 1:56.36, beating her career-best and school record time of 1:56.80, set at the Georgia Invitational earlier this season. Thursday night, during her finals heat, Vavra not only set the school record, but the Big Ten record by finishing with a time of 1:55.44, winning the race as well. Vavra’s time was also good for an NCAA A-Cut Qualifying Time.After sophomore Lindsay Vrooman won the preliminaries in the 500-yard freestyle race, Vrooman ended up finishing in second in the finals heat with a time of 4:39.64, her career-best time. For senior Brittany Strumbel, her third-place finish in preliminaries was followed by a fourth-place ending in the finals heat, finishing with a time of 4:41.57, good for an NCAA B-Cut qualifying time. IU’s surprise finisher though was from freshman Lauren Jordan, who posted the fifth-fastest time in the finals with a time of 4:41.86, her career best by nearly a four second margin. However, Jordan competed in the consolation heat, meaning that her time actually earned a ninth-place finish. In the 1-meter diving competition, despite senior Gabby Agostino winning the preliminaries and leading with two rounds to go in the finals, Ohio State senior Bianca Alvarez posted two huge scores of 67.6 and 66.3 to defeat Agostino and take the Big Ten title. In fact, Agostino ended in fourth place with a score of 331.15, still good for a career-best mark. Sophomore Kate Hillman finished in eighth in the competition, senior Christina Kouklakis in 11th and freshman Kathryn Connolly in 15th. The 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle relay were not very favorable for the Hoosiers, however. Senior Margaux Farrell was the highest finisher for IU in the 50-yard free with a time of 23.00, good for 12th place overall, and in the 200-yard free relay, the Hoosiers finished in sixth despite earning the third fastest time in school history (1:30.85). That race was swam by seniors Margaux Farrell and Brittany Strumbel, sophomore Stephanie Armstrong and freshman Justine Ress. The Hoosiers will get their next opportunity to earn points tomorrow in seven events, including the 400-yard medley relay, the 100 fly, breast and back, the 200 free and the 3-meter dive. The action will begin at noon EST with preliminaries, and finals will begin starting at 7:30 p.m. EST.
(02/16/12 4:29am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Before taking to the pool Wednesday for the first day of the Big Ten Championships, senior Margaux Farrell said the IU women’s swimming and diving team would be dedicating the championship meet to teammate Sara Delay, who is no longer able to swim due to illness.When the team entered the pool in the Campus Wellness and Recreation Center at the University of Iowa on Wednesday, the Hoosiers came out impassioned and ended the first day of competition in second place with one win out of two races, only four points behind leading Wisconsin.IU’s lone win came in the 800-yard freestyle relay, when the team of seniors Brittany Strumbel, Farrell and Nikki White and sophomore Lindsay Vrooman finished in a record-setting time of 7:00.82. Not only did the four set the pool record, their NCAA A cut qualifying time also set the Big Ten Championships record, the IU record and the Big Ten record. The Hoosiers’ time of 7:00.82 was also more than two seconds faster than their closest competition, a 7:02.97 time from Minnesota.In the first event of the day, however, the Hoosiers earned a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay in a time of 1:38.74, swum by senior Kim Tracey, junior Ashley Specht, sophomore Stephanie Armstrong and freshman Allie Day. Though the group finished in fifth in a race during which a pool record was set by first-place Wisconsin, the time was still good for the third fastest in IU history.The Hoosiers are in second place with 68 points through the first two races, and they have the opportunity to earn points in five races today. Action will resume starting at noon, with the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard freestyle and 1-meter dive preliminaries all taking place. The finals for those events, plus the 200-yard freestyle relay, will take place beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST.
(02/15/12 4:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>After months of preparation through daily workouts and meets against top-tier competition, Indiana’s women’s swimming and diving team is about to be put to the ultimate test.The team has won three consecutive Big Ten titles and four in the past five years, and now the Hoosiers have another opportunity this week to improve their standing in the Big Ten.Starting Wednesday, the women’s swimming and diving team will compete in the four-day Big Ten Championships in Iowa City, Iowa, as the Hoosiers go for their fourth consecutive conference championship en route to the NCAA Championship Meet in March.“The target has been on our back every year,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “We expect that there are going to be several teams that are going to be coming out swinging, but I just want (our team) to be persistent and tough.”This meet presents a special opportunity for IU’s seniors. The seniors have the chance to sweep the Big Ten Championships all four years they swim and dive at IU. As they head into the meet, senior swimmer Margaux Farrell said, they are well aware of the potential feat.“I think there is pressure on the senior class, but not so much that it will hinder us,” Farrell said. “We are excited to see if we can complete a perfect career, but regardless of what happens, we’ve had some great times together as a class and, more importantly, as a team. I’m sure whatever happens will happen for a reason.”Though the Hoosiers are the No. 1 Big Ten team and No. 12 in the nation, according to the CollegeSwimming.com/CSCAA Coaches Poll, a fourth consecutive Big Ten title will not be handed to them. This season, five other Big Ten teams are ranked in the Top 25, meaning the Hoosiers will swim and dive against some of the best competition in the nation. “All we can control is ourselves,” Looze said. “The divers have their job to do and the swimmers have their job to do, and we have to come together as a team and realize that, session by session, it’s going to be a battle.”Though Looze said the target is on IU’s back, he also said the team’s attitude heading into Iowa City is exactly what it needs to be to win the title. “The girls in the past several weeks have been loose, have smiled a lot and have been joking around, so they have the demeanor that you want to see,” Looze said. “We constantly remind them the reason we put in so much hard work is so we can have fun at this time of the year, so that’s what we intend to do.”Once the Hoosiers take their first dive into the pool at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center at the University of Iowa, it will all boil down to how fast they swim and how well they dive. Looze said that, if IU performs well, then no matter the result, he will be happy with the team’s effort.“You know, there is nothing more we can do,” Looze said. “I feel confident that we put in the work and that we’ve done everything we can do.“All I want for the girls is that they have a great meet, that they swim well and up to their capability, and if they do that, we can walk away with our heads held high.”
(02/08/12 4:39am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>On any given late afternoon at the Counsilman/Billingsley Aquatic Center, the first thing one will notice upon walking in is not the distinct smell of chlorine commonly associated with pools. Instead, the powerful sound of dozens of swimmers pounding through the pool and the booms of divers jumping on and off the board stand out.On this particular Tuesday practice, the IU swimming and diving team is only weeks away from the Big Ten Championships — for the women, only one week remains, and for the men, two. Both teams are well into tapers. However, to the unknowing eye, it looks as if they’re training with maximum effort.Today, though, is just another day of what IU swimmers have to go through, what the swimmers call one of the toughest daily workout regimens of all sports.“We are pretty much continuously training,” senior swimmer Margaux Farrell said. “I would say that, for 90 percent of our time spent in the pool, we are moving. There is not a lot of ‘wall’ time or time spent taking breaks. We go through set after set until the workout is complete.”Senior swimmer Allysa Vavra said she knows exactly what Farrell means. For Vavra, who is a bronze medalist at the 2011 Pan American Games, one of her weekly workouts consists of swimming 3,000 yards and more than one mile in warm-ups alone, which is followed by 30 laps of 100-yard swims that are required to take fewer than 60 seconds. All IU distance swimmers go through a similar workout a staggering 10 times a week and are in the weight room four times per week.“I think swimming is one of the hardest sports because not everyone can do it. It is mentally and physically demanding, and we practice a ridiculous amount,” Vavra said. “I think people don’t realize what we do sometimes, but I think they should try jumping in and doing the set I talked about before. It sounds easy, but most people can’t even make a 100 in under two minutes.”For both the men’s and women’s teams, all this hard work is put toward winning a Big Ten title. The women have won the Big Ten Championship three straight seasons and four of the last five, and the men are looking to win their first since the 2005-06 season. For most swimmers and divers, that title is the pinnacle of competition, and after months of hard work, it is finally within reach.“It is this level of mental and physical training that I feel makes us prepared to be successful at our championship meets,” Farrell said. “Championship meets are long, stressful and trying on your body. You have to have a strong endurance base, and you must be mentally able to handle to competition as well. Personally, at Big Tens, I have to swim 10 races, and at NCAA’s, this number can be even higher because relays are swum at both prelims and finals.”While swimmers work on their endurance and speed, on the other side of the CBAC, divers continue to work toward perfection. Multiple rounds of diving repetition follow long periods of stretching as divers work toward mastering dives by competition time.“Diving is very mentally demanding,” junior diver Zac Nees said. “There is constant movement in diving, but the real stress is on the mind. We are diving constantly and doing different types of dives every time, so there are so many things we have to think about in order to strive for perfection.”At 5 p.m., the swimmers come out of the water, the divers move from the boards and the team retreats to the locker rooms with smiles of relief on their faces. Practice is finished, but only for today. Tomorrow, an equally challenging routine will follow.“Swimming and diving are very much mental sports, and you can will yourself to achieve or not achieve your goals,” Farrell said. “You need to be tough going into a meet setting to tell yourself that no matter what, you’ve trained for this. When you think about it, practice is so much more grueling and intense, and competitions are actually just the fun part to let all your hard work shine.”
(01/30/12 4:53am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Senior Margaux Farrell said she knew she would be emotional during her final meet as an IU swimmer at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center heading into the final dual meet of the season Saturday.With the Hoosiers taking on a highly touted Louisville team, the women ranked No. 24 and the men ranked No. 12, securing wins Saturday afternoon was not going to be an easy task.Led by performances from IU’s seniors and underclassmen, the No. 12 women’s team defeated the Cardinals 165-128, while the No. 11 men fell by a 165.5-134.5 margin. On the women’s side, Farrell and senior Allysa Vavra dominated in their final dual meet. The two combined earned six overall wins. Though the Hoosiers’ seniors provided multiple wins, IU also saw victories from sophomores Lindsay Vrooman and Laura Ryan and from freshmen Justine Ress and Allie Day.“The whole meet was fun to watch,” Vrooman said. “I really think our freshmen class is going to make a name for themselves as the years go by, and having them with the great talent of our senior class is great. It’s awesome to see people winning events and putting up great times in every class.”Farrell won three events for the second time in a row including last week’s meet against Purdue, winning the 200-yard freestyle by a three-second margin (1:48.49), the 50-yard freestyle (23.53) and the 200-yard medley relay (1:42.56), during which she led the Hoosiers in the last leg of the race. Meanwhile, Vavra earned victories in the 200-yard butterfly (1:58.05), 200-yard breastroke (2:14.02) and 400-yard individual medley (4:12.25), which she won by a wide, 5-second margin. “I would say that the meet went really well,” Farrell said. “Everyone came in with a great attitude, and we really fought hard from beginning to end. It was a really nice win to go out on.”Meanwhile, Vrooman provided the Hoosiers with key distance-event victories, as she took both the 500- and 1,000-yard freestyle wins. In the 1,000 freestyle, Vrooman’s time of 9:51.49 was nearly 12 seconds faster than Louisville’s second-place finisher. In the 500 freestyle, she edged IU senior Brittany Strumbel to win the event with a time of 4:50.92, only .19 seconds better than her teammate. Vrooman’s total swimming distance on the day was equivalent to 30 feet shy of a mile.“Placing first in the freestyle events was a nice confidence boost, I’ll have to admit, but I was happier about maintaining my speed and endurance as the meet went on,” Vrooman said. “I think that was a little bit more pivotal for me — knowing that I could compete consistently well in all my events today.”Finally, the Hoosiers rounded out the day’s performance with victories by Day in the 200-yard medley relay and the 100-yard backstroke (55.54), while Ress won in the 200-yard medley relay, as well, and the 200-yard backstroke (2:00.57). Freshman Dorina Szekeres swam the 200-yard backstroke as an exhibition, and had she swam in the actual race, she would have won. “The freshmen always bring their A-game to meets,” Vrooman said. “They’re all just great teammates.”On the men’s side, the Hoosiers struggled to achieve wins in the pool, as the Hoosiers only won four events outside of the diving competition. Andrew Taylor won the 1000-yard freestyle with a time of 9:20.21, and John Schnittker won the 500-yard freestyle in 4:29.61.However, in diving, junior Zac Nees swept both events for his sixth and seventh wins this season, as the Hoosiers went 1-2-3 in both dives to give them a chance at a comeback in the overall meet. The Cardinals won 10 of the 14 swimming events to prevent any comeback.“We just didn’t get the job done, and we’re better than that,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “We swam better last week than we did this week, so we’ve just got to know that we’re a better team than that and know that we just didn’t show up like we’re capable of.”Though the men will be participating in the Ohio State Winter Invite from Feb. 11-12, the next women’s meet will be the Big Ten Championships from Feb. 15-18. For them, the team will be going for its fourth consecutive Big Ten title.“Almost all of the team will be tapered and ready to go, so hopefully we will be able to win the meet again,” Vavra said. “I think that everyone will have to step up and do their part, and if that falls into place, then the meet will go the way we want it to.”
(01/27/12 5:48am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Fresh off its sweep last Saturday against Purdue on live television, the IU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams face yet another tough challenge. In their second home meet of the year, the Hoosiers will swim against Louisville on Saturday at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center. This season, the Cardinals boast a men’s team ranked No. 12 in the nation and a women’s team ranked No. 24. With this being the last dual meet of the season, IU Coach Ray Looze said they cannot overlook the Louisville squad.“Louisville is a really, really good team,” Looze said. “I think they’re a pretty similar team to us, and they heavily invest in swimming, as you can tell from where they are in the national rankings, so we’re going to have to be really sharp if we’re going to walk away on the positive end of the equation.”For the No. 11 men’s team, last Saturday’s meet against Purdue was a wake-up call. Though the Hoosiers began with a significant lead against the Boilermakers, Purdue came back. The Hoosiers ended the meet with a 32-point victory. For Indiana, making sure Louisville does not stage a comeback will be important. To ensure that, the swimmers and divers will have to compete at a very high level, said IU junior diver Zac Nees.“Going into the meet, we knew Purdue was stronger toward the middle of the meet, so our strategy was to get out to an early lead and try to hold that lead throughout the rest of the meet,” Nees said. “As for Louisville, I am not sure about all the swimming events, but diving’s goal is to get another 1-2-3 finish on 1-meter and 1-2-3-4 finish on 3-meter in order to help ease the pressure on the swimmers.”After Saturday’s 169-130 victory against Purdue — though it was actually 201-99 before exhibitioning events changed the results — IU’s women’s team finally seemed to be back on track after a three-point loss at Michigan. Facing a Louisville team that has lost only one dual meet all season, though senior Margaux Farrell said the Hoosiers will have to swim at a high level to beat Louisville, despite yet another intense week of practice.“This is going to be just another one of those meets where we have to buckle down and try to swim fast while being tired,” Farrell said. “We literally never rest for dual meets, and we obviously always want to win, but we will not sacrifice training for Big Ten’s and NCAA’s in order to do so.”After Saturday’s meet, the men will be off for two weeks until the Ohio State Winter Invitational. The team will participate in the Big Ten Championships only a week and a half after that. Though it is still nearly a month away, the looming competition is fresh in the Hoosiers’ minds. For now, though, it’s Saturday’s meet against the Louisville squad that is the team’s true priority, Looze said. “We’re definitely focused on the Big Ten’s — we always are — but Louisville is one of the best dual meet teams in the country,” Looze said. “We’re going to have to be at our best, there’s no doubt about it. We’re just going to go toe-to toe with them, and it’s going to be a street fight. That’s what we’re expecting.”
(01/23/12 4:34am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Jan. 21, 2012, will be a day that will live forever in Indiana swimming and diving history.Under the lights, in the first live swimming and diving broadcast ever on the Big Ten Network, the IU men’s and women’s teams were pitted against rival Purdue.It was a battle for bragging rights and Crimson and Gold Cup points. It was also senior day. The Hoosiers did not disappoint. Led by a slew of top finishes, the No. 10 IU men defeated the No. 20 Boilermakers 166-134. The No. 8 IU women did the same, winning 169-130 against the No. 18 Boilers. “I thought we did a fantastic job today of getting off to a fast start,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “This team does its best when the spotlight is on them, and today was a great example of that. We are tired as a team, but they competed real hard today.”The Hoosier men fought off a resilient Purdue team en route to victory and saw record results in the process. With three 1-2-3 finishes and nine wins during the 16 events of the day, the Hoosiers relied on early swimming results to take the lead. IU’s 400 yard medley relay team of junior Jim Barbiere, sophomores James Wells and Cody Miller and freshman Steve Schmuhl led the Hoosiers to its first win of the day. Then, in the next event, sophomore Patrick Scally won his first career race, taking the 1,000 yard freestyle in a time of 9:20.39 against IU’s Ryan Hinshaw. The Hoosiers then followed with two more straight wins and built a strong enough lead to withstand a Purdue run.“It was pivotal for our men to get off to a fast start,” Looze said. “We knew that Purdue would make a run toward the middle of the meet, so I’m glad that we were able to get enough points early on when we needed them.”The diving portion of the meet, in which IU went 1-2-3 in both the platform and the 1-meter dive, sealed IU’s victory against Purdue on Saturday. While sophomore Conor Murphy won his first career event in the platform dive, the real headlines surrounded junior Zac Nees’ six-dive performance in the 1-meter competition.On six dives, Nees compiled a score of 420.90, the highest collegiate score ever recorded at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center, and the second-highest score in Indiana diving history. After winning only one event in his prior two seasons, Saturday’s win was his fifth this season. “I am extremely proud of what Zac has done this season,” Looze said. “Jeff (Huber, the IU diving coach) has told me that he is one of the most talented divers he has ever coached. “It was only a matter of time he would have a performance like this, and hopefully, he can stay consistent.”On the women’s side, IU dominated the meet with five 1-2-3 finishes, having won 201-99 before exhibitioning results to trim the score to a more respectable 166-134. In her first meet of the season, junior Amy Cozad won the women’s platform dive with a score of 354.53, beating teammate and U.S. Synchronized Diving partner sophomore Laura Ryan in the process. In the swimming portion of the competition, seniors Margaux Farrell and Allysa Vavra dominated, posting strong senior day results in front of their families. Farrell was a winner in the 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard freestyle and 400-yard freestyle relay. She finished 0.38 seconds away from a four-event sweep, earning second place in the 50-yard freestyle. For Vavra, she was also a uthree-event winner on a day where the national spotlight was on the Hoosiers. She breezed to a 1,000-yard freestyle victory by a four-second margin. She then followed it up with wins in the 200-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley, which was later exhibitioned. “I would obviously say that it was a great feeling to win in front of our family and friends, especially since it was our senior meet and the first ever live broadcast of a dual,” Farrell said. “But the real thing that made us happy about the win was that we had no rest coming in after a really intense workout on Friday.”Saturday’s women’s win against Purdue was the Hoosiers’ way of avenging this past year’s 161-139 dual meet loss to the Boilermakers. It also gave IU the 4.0 to 3.5 lead in the Crimson and Gold Cup. Most notably, a national audience saw the Hoosiers take the sweep against their in-state rival.“I’ve got to say, it was an amazing feeling to beat our rival school on live TV,” Nees said. “It was a great team effort, and I think everyone was pleased with the outcome.”