Women's swimming heads to Purdue

Coming off a successful winter training trip and start to the new year, the IU women's swim team gears up to face in-state rival Purdue this weekend. The No. 14 Hoosiers travel to West Lafayette in hopes of fighting off an upset by the No. 17 Boilermakers.\n"After our training in Florida, everyone was excited to get in and race," senior Kristy Martin said.\nThe 5-0 Hoosiers (3-0 in the Big Ten) last won in Columbus, Ohio, when they trounced the Buckeyes by 66 points. At Ohio State, the Hoosiers recorded the fastest time in 10 of 11 events. Colleen McCracken, a senior from Lincoln, Neb., recorded a season-best time of 2:05.65 to win the 200-yard backstroke, while classmate Anne Williams went on to win the 50-yard free. The Hoosier dominance of freestyle events continued as IU went 1-2-3 in the 100-yard free.\n"The seniors have done a great job," coach Dorsey Tierney said. "They were my first recruiting class, and it's great to see how far they've come. They've set high expectations for the team, and do a good job leading by example."\nIn West Lafayette this weekend, the Hoosiers face one of their toughest conference opponents. Ranked only three spots lower on the College Swimming Coaches Association poll, Purdue matches up well with the undefeated Hoosiers.\n"Purdue will be tough," Martin said. "We must stay focused." \nThe Boilermakers, 8-0-1 (2-0 in the Big Ten) have experienced success in 2003 under coach Cathy Wright-Eger, who has worn black and gold for 16 years. Their consistently strong relay teams pose a particular threat to the IU squad.\n"It's the best team (Purdue) has had since I've been the coach here," Tierney said. "They have lots of depth, good relays. We will have our hands full."\nThe relays were a point of concern for Tierney, as well as the overall consistency in performance of her Hoosier squad.\n"The relays need quite a bit of improvement," Tierney said. "But it is important we improve the end of our races, and get some consistency. Racing three fourths of the way isn't good enough. We need everyone at 100 percent."\nWhile the Hoosiers stress they want to focus their goals one week at a time, the seniors realize the importance of success in their final season in Bloomington. Senior Jenny Bechem, a two-time Academic All-Big Ten selection, has set provisional NCAA qualifying times in the 200-yard butterfly, 500-yard freestyle and 1,650 freestyle during her final campaign as a Hoosier. But her season goals don't end there.\n"Realistically, I want to get three lifetime bests at Big Tens," Bechem said. "Ideally, I want to go to NCAAs."\nThe road to the NCAAs continues Saturday at 1 p.m. at the Doris Z. Holloway pool on the Purdue campus.