Hoosier swimmers, divers take 10th at NCAA Championships

Heading into the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Federal Way, Wash., IU junior diver Zac Nees said the team’s goal would be to finish in the top 10 in the standings when it was all said and done.

After three days of competition against the best swimmers and divers across the nation, the goal was achieved. IU finished with 140 points through the span of the meet, good enough for a 10th place finish at the NCAA Championships. That is the Hoosiers’ highest placing since 2008, when the team also finished in 10th.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of this group,” IU Coach Ray Looze said. “What a way to finish the season. To finish top 10 in the country, when we were arguably without our best swimmer, just all the credit goes to our guys. They represented Hoosier Nation extremely well tonight.”

The Hoosiers’ Top 10 effort was led by a slew of five NCAA diving first team All-American finishes and three honorable mention All-American efforts. Leading the Hoosiers in the pool was Nees, who finished as a first team All-American in the 3-meter (380.00 points) and platform dive (343.95) and an honorable mention in the 1-meter dive (370.10).

“I built up my confidence through success in dual meets all year, and even though I had an off meet at Big Tens, I knew that I could compete with the guys at NCAAs,” Nees said. “I think that is the main reason I was successful at this meet, and that is the lesson I will take away.“

In addition to Nees, sophomore Darian Schmidt was a first team All-American in the 3-meter dive, junior Mick Dell’Orco a first team All-American in the 1-meter dive and sophomore Conor Murphy a first team All-American in the platform dive. Combined, the Hoosier divers accounted for 71 of the team’s overall 140 points.

“You know, last year we got nine points from diving, and we had Eric Ress in that meet, arguably our best swimmer,” Looze said. “After last year, we got together and decided we wanted to have a good meet, and I have to give the credit to (Diving Coach) Jeff Huber for turning that group of divers into the kind of group we have now.”

The Hoosiers also got major points from sophomore Cody Miller, who scored in the 200-yard Individual Medley, 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard breaststroke. Miller first broke the IU school record in the 200 IM in a 10th-place finish, racing a 1:44.02 in the finals. Miller then followed with a seventh-place finish and first team All-American award in the 100 breast Friday, and he finished ninth Saturday in the 200 breast.

“I was really pleased with my performance in the 2IM,” Miller said. “I really wanted to break 1:44, but I fell short by two-one-hundredths of a second, which is slightly painful. However, being a three time All-American is really satisfying, and I couldn’t be more proud of my teammates.

“Teams say every year, ‘Well, next year, that will be our year. We will do better next year,’ but seriously, we just established ourselves as a top-10 program with 10 guys,” Miller said. “We aren’t losing anyone, and we are only gaining in points, which is rare for teams. Next year we will have more guys, and we will be an even bigger impact at
the NCAA level.”

Finally, junior Sam Trahin earned first team All-American honors after finishing fourth in the 400-yard IM on Friday. Not only did Trahin set the IU school record in the finals for the event with a time of 3:44.37, but he also broke the record during preliminaries, when he raced a 3:44.49.

“Setting the school record in the 400 IM was a great accomplishment, but more important than the record was my impact for the team,” Trahin said. “I really wanted to help the program, and I believe I did the best I could.”

Looze also credits Assistant Head Coach Mike Westphal for staying back with the team while the women’s team competed in their NCAA Championships. Looze said that without him pushing the team while he and the remaining coaches were gone, the Hoosiers would not have been ready for this meet.

“We’ve got a great staff from top to bottom,” Looze said. “We’re fortunate that we’ve got good people producing good results, and we’re looking forward to keeping that going.”

Things are only looking up from here for the IU swimming and diving team. The Hoosiers will return every point scorer from the NCAA’s next season and will return future senior Eric Ress, who most recently finished second in the 200-meter backstroke at the French National Championships on Thursday. For now, though, the wait to return to the pool next fall begins.

“I think we are in a good place and that we have a potential top-five team on our hands,” Looze said. “We’re excited about the future. Everyone comes back, and we’re still adding good people, so right now, this is the men’s time to shine.”