Hoosiers sweep Wildcats, Bearcats

LEXINGTON, KY -- Swimming head coach Kris Kirchner knew the Hoosiers needed a strong performance Saturday against Cincinnati and Kentucky.\nThey didn't disappoint. The team had seven first-place finishes for a 2-0 sweep, 129-113 over the Wildcats and 178-58 over the Bearcats. \n"We're getting to that point of the year where we're focusing on what we've got to do -- fast swimming," Kirchner said. "It was a very strong, in-depth performance. We weren't perfect, but we had some people step up."\nFreshman Richard Bryant won the 200-yard freestyle, and placed second in both the 500- and 1,000-yard freestyle events. \nJunior David Schulze won the 200-yard individual medley and the 200-yard breaststroke. Schulze finished fourth in the 400-yard medley relay with teammates Matt Leach, Murph Halasz and Val Milkov.\n"The 200-breast was a big race for me because Kentucky's got one of their big guns in the 200-breast," Schulze said. "And we needed that for points, so I was really pumped to be able to get that win." \nSophomore Claes Andersson competed in three events and won each of them. Andersson took first in the 50- and 100-freestyle races and swam the second leg of the victorious Hoosier A relay team in the 200-yard freestyle relay. \n"There are a couple of things that I need to work on before Big Tens, but I am very happy with the way I swam," Andersson said. "It's always nice for my confidence when I go into Big Tens to know that I've beat these guys before in the season."\nSenior Heath Montgomery placed third in the 500-yard freestyle relay with a personal season-best time of 4:37.35. \n"As a team, we swam great today," Schulze said. "We're finally winning close races."\nThe Hoosier divers didn't fair as well. Kentucky finished 1-2-3 off the 1-meter board and 1-2 off of the 3-meter board. \n"We've had better days," head diving coach Jeff Huber said. "Kentucky did a nice job. They've got two U.S. national team members on their team, and they dove like it."\nOff of the 1-meter boards, junior Adam Hazes placed fourth, and sophomore Marc Carlton took fifth. Burns led the Hoosiers off the 3-meter board with a third-place finish, followed by Carlton in fourth (295.45) and Hazes in fifth (277.60). \n"I dove pretty well," Burns said. "I got better starts and dove extremely well off the 3-meter." \nHuber said he hoped going into next week's home dual meet against Purdue, more rest would facilitate better diving. \n"I know these guys are already talking about what they want to do on Monday morning for practice," Huber said. "I know they're going to go back and train real hard for next week, but I want them a little more rested than they were this week." \nThe Hoosiers-Boilermakers matchup in both swimming and diving begins at 4 p.m. Feb. 9 at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center.