Hoosiers hope to end 3-year drought without championship

The No. 16 IU women's swimming and diving team begins competition today in Columbus, Ohio, in hopes of ending its three-year drought without a Big Ten Championship. The Hoosiers last won the conference title in 2003.\nIU has not been in action since it split the double-dual meet with Ohio State and Penn State on Jan. 27 and 28. The long break allowed IU to prepare mentally and strategically for the Big Ten Championships, senior Doherty Colgin said.\n"The Big Ten is always a special meet," she said. "It's huge, the excitement is crazy. For swimming it's the biggest meet in our conference, and it's the only meet where you can step on the blocks and truly feel your entire team behind you. It's really special."\nIU will face stiff competition in the Big Ten Championships as six Big Ten teams are currently ranked in the top 25, a fact that coach Ray Looze said eliminates a certain margin of error for the Hoosiers. \n"From a team standpoint, we've really been working on our chemistry, our unity for one cause and trusting each other," Looze said. "From a fundamental standpoint, we've been working on our turns, relay exchanges, starts -- just our level of confidence being in the right frame of mind to compete on a consistent basis."\nThe two-week layoff was more than long enough for IU and it has the Hoosiers ready for a run at the Big Ten Championship.\nFacing several top-seeded teams in an environment away from home, the Hoosiers will have to rely on each other to get the job done.\n"(We need) to stay together as a team," junior Annica Lofstedt said. (We need) to be really positive and just cheer each other on and just have fun because that's when we swim best."\nIf the Hoosiers hope to hang another banner in the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center, a major key for them will be getting off to a quick start and limiting their mistakes over the four-day meet, Looze said.\nAnd the Hoosiers hope to send their seniors out the same way they came in -- with a Big Ten Championship.\n"We're pretty hungry," Lofstedt said. "I can't wait to get down there and just start racing so it's going to be a lot of fun"