The IU men’s team broke nine school records in Iowa City, Iowa, on its way to placing third in the Big Ten Championships during the weekend.
Records were broken in the 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 500 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, 400 freestyle relay, 800 freestyle relay, 1 meter, 3 meter and
platform dive.
IU Coach Ray Looze said he didn’t anticipate his team breaking so many records.
“That was surprising,” Looze said. “I was really surprised. I didn’t see that coming, in a good way.”
Freshman James Conner holds the school record for both the 100 freestyle and the 400 freestyle relay along with freshmen
Blake Pieroni, freshman Ali Khalafalla and sophomore Anze Tavcar.
Conner ended the meet with his third record-setting performance in the platform dive.
His first place finish in the platform dive helped Conner win Big Ten Diver of the Big Ten
Championships.
He also made the first-team All-Big Ten along with sophomore Michael Hixon. The Hoosiers had a total of seven athletes make the second-team All-Big Ten
as well.
Pieroni placed second in the 200 freestyle relay with teammates Tavcar, Khalafalla, and senior Yianni Thermos who all combined to set a new
school record.
He also recorded the second-fastest time in school history in the 200 freestyle.
Pieroni’s performance over the weekend earned him the co-Big Ten
Freshman of the Year.
The Hoosiers took both men’s and women’s Freshman of the Year honors this year, with Kennedy Goss earning women’s honors last weekend.
IU scored a total of 551 points.
“We did a fantastic job,” Looze said. “We graduated all of our top scorers last year, and we were able to reload and come within 13 points of where we were last year. I couldn’t imagine that. I’m just excited to see our development moving forward.”
Coming into the competition, IU knew Michigan was the favorite to win the championship. However, it felt it could compete well with Ohio State for second place.
But the Buckeyes were able to pull away from the Hoosiers as they scored 623 points to finish right behind Michigan who
gathered 760 points.
“Ohio State swam great,” Looze said. “They had a big senior class, and they did what seniors do, they performed well.”
The next focus for the Hoosiers is the NCAA Championships, which begin March 26.
The NCAA tournament is a three-day tournament as opposed to the Big Ten Tournament, which lasted three and a half days.
Looze said that might not seem like a big difference but that extra half-day does matter.
“For the NCAA’s, there are not predictions on my end,” Looze said. “But I think we can end up with 11 athletes on the swimming side. Two divers should make it and possibly three.”
