IU is currently in third place with 58 points and broke two school records in the first day of competition.
The day started with the 200 medley relay. Sophomores Bob Glover and Max Irwin paired with junior Tanner Kurz and freshman Ali Khalafalla to place sixth overall with a time of 1:26.11. The Hoosiers placed seventh overall initially, but were bumped up a spot after a Penn State disqualification.
“I think it was a really good way to start the meet,” IU Coach Ray Looze said.
The day only got better for the Hoosiers as they broke two school records in the 800 freestyle relay with sophomores Anze Tavcar, Jackson Miller, senior Steve Schmuhl and freshman Blake Pieroni.
Their time of 6:16.82 placed them third overall in the race and put them at the top of charts in the IU record book. The previous record time was 6:19.68, which was set in the 2013 season.
Pieroni broke an individual school record in the lead-off leg as well. He raced a 200 split time of 1:33.10. Looze said Pieroni’s time is the leading time in all of the NCAA right now. The old record was 1:34.55, which was set in December at the USA Swimming Winter Nationals.
“It was a really good way to start the relay,” Looze said. “It shattered the school record, which was cool.”
The Big Ten Conference Championships continues for the Hoosiers at 12 p.m. Thursday. The prelims of the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle and the 1-meter diving will all be taking place on the second day of competition. Looze believes that the Hoosiers are capable of swimming even better than they did today.
“Believe it or not, I think we’re going to swim better and better,” Looze said. “We still have six sessions left, and we haven’t even brought our divers into it yet.”
