Hoosiers hoping for repeat of '85 season

The IU men's swimming and diving team looks to repeat history as it heads to Minneapolis for the 2005 Big Ten Championships. It has been exactly 20 years since IU last won a Big Ten title in this sport. That same year was also the last time the Hoosiers won 10 dual-meets in a season before reaching that mark this season.\n"The win in the last dual-meet was a good stepping stone for us," said senior All-American swimmer Murph Halasz. "Mainly because of our times, not necessarily because of the win, and I think that can continue into the Big Ten's."\nThe Hoosiers, who are ranked No. 13 in the country, are one of seven Big Ten schools in the Top 25. The schools ahead of IU are No. 5 Michigan and No. 6 Minnesota, the latter of whom will defend its Big Ten title at its home pool.\n"Honestly, this is the most competitive conference in the country," said IU coach Ray Looze. "There is not one easy event. We have more people in certain events than others, but it's all tough."\nJunior swimmer Kevin Swander returns to the Big Ten Championships after being the first Hoosier to win Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships at last year's event. He won the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 53.15, a Big Ten Conference and Big Ten Championship Meet record. \n"Last year I got lucky," Swander said. "This year it is a little bit more than luck. I'm going in there not expecting to win but expecting just to race," \nThe Hoosiers hope to make some noise in this year's event by eclipsing last year's fourth-place finnish. Four IU divers redshirted last year including All-American senior Marc Carlton, and they should help in this year's diving competition. \n"We have 28 guys, and if we have 28 guys score between the swimmers and the divers, then we'll be okay," Looze said. "Regardless of the outcome, I don't see how we could not feel real positive and have a good finished product if we do that."\nThe first day of the Championships, which begin at noon today, include the 200-yard free relay, 500-yard free, 200-yard individual medley, 50-yard free, one-meter dive and 400-yard medley relay.\nCarlton's last Big Ten Championship performance in 2003 won him the one-meter championship as well as Big Ten Diver of the Year and Co-Big Ten Diver of the Championships. At last year's Championships, Halasz took third in the 100-yard butterfly and broke Olympian Mark Spitz's 32-year-old school record in the same event. He also garnered first team All-Big Ten honors. Sophomore swimmer Colin Russell received second team All-Big Ten honors last year.\n"Yea, I think everyone's pretty confident in our ability as a team to swim fast," Swander said. "Winning is a goal, but we're the underdog."\nThe Hoosiers remain immune to frustration and seem locked in on their goals. All the training has led up to this point where they can show their in-conference rivals how hungry they really are, team members say.\n"Anything could happen," Looze said. "We're going to let our actions speak for ourselves."\n-- Contact Staff Writer Evan \nHarris at evharris@indiana.edu.