Celebratory cheers echoed throughout the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center (CBAC).
IU men's and women's swim and dive teams took down University of Louisville on senior day for their final home dual-meets of the season. The No. 11 women won 154.5-145.5, narrowly defeating the Cardinals. IU's No. 3 men crushed No. 8 Louisville 187-106, giving the team 30 consecutive dual-meet wins.
Friday’s victory marked back-to-back wins for the women and eight straight for the men. The men’s program has now successfully reached three straight undefeated seasons in dual-meet competition.
“It was a dominant win by the men and for the women to come back and beat Louisville after losing that first relay, I was super proud,” IU Head Swimming Coach Ray Looze said. “For our women the best is yet to come, and for both teams, we have a lot of work to do and a long way to go for championship season.”
Senior Lilly King ran through a tunnel of cheering Hoosiers and stood before applauding fans and family as her legacy was plastered into the CBAC’s wall forever. King made good on her final home meet by winning both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes with times of 1:00.76 and 2:12.89, respectively.
“I swam here a lot as a kid and never thought about my face being up on the wall," King said. "But there it is next to all these incredible names."
Other seniors on the women’s roster, Bailey Andison and Jessica Parratto, picked up convincing victories in their final home dual-meet before the Big Ten Championships.
Andison defeated King on the 200 individual medley, finishing first with a time of 2:00.65. Parratto decimated her competition on the diving boards, scoring 316.13 on the 1-meter and a NCAA zones qualifying score of 356.33 on the 3-meter.
“To see performances like the ones Jess and James put on today, not even completely at their sharpest, is really promising moving forward,” said IU Head Diving Coach Drew Johansen.
For the men’s diving team, redshirt senior James Connor picked up his first two-for-two of 2019, winning both the 1-meter (414) and 3-meter (446.78) dives with NCAA zones-qualifying scores in each. Teammate and sophomore Andrew Capobianco was the runner-up in both events.
“This pool has given me so much, not just the friendships and memories, but it’s been a staple for me the whole five years I’ve been here,” Connor said. “I feel incredibly blessed to have had this opportunity so it’s a bit sobering today to soak it all in.”
Connor’s diving points helped to put the IU men’s team far ahead of Louisville, as did multiple individual victories from junior Mohamed Samy and seniors Ian Finnerty and Vini Lanza. They helped the men’s roster take all 16 events of the competition.
Samy took the 50 and 200 freestyle with times of 19.98 and 1:36.60 respectively. The junior also won the 200 backstroke and lent a hand to senior Zach Apple, sophomore Bruno Blaskovic and freshman Jack Franzman in the 400 freestyle relay victory at the end of the meet.
In his final performance at the CBAC, Finnerty swept both the breaststroke events, took first in the 200 individual medley and helped IU open up the competition with a victory in the 200 medley relay with a team time of 1:26.50.
Lanza’s final outing in Bloomington featured a butterfly sweep with times of 47.46 and 1:44.83 on the 100 and 200, respectively. Lanza also contributed to the team’s 200 medley relay.
“I was driving home yesterday after practice, and it hit me that my great time here with these incredible people is almost done,” Lanza said. “I am really honored to be apart of this team and the culture we have built here. We are excited to go for our third straight title and battle for that big national title that we want a lot.”
With the Ben Ten Championships at home for the women's team in the coming weeks, the women's roster also pushed through in individual events to set the tone for the next stage of the year.
Junior Maria Paula Heitmann took first on the 500 freestyle with a finishing 4:51.60. Additionally, junior Cassy Jernberg gave IU its second distance victory with the 1000 freestyle.
The women’s team finished second in seven of the swimming meet’s 14 events with times barely below Louisville’s Mallory Comerford and Grace Oglesby. The Cardinals excelled on the backstrokes and butterflies, but their efforts fell short as the Hoosiers claimed their second victory in a row.
IU is the host team for the women's Big Ten Championships for the first time since 2011. For the men’s team, the players will travel to the Iowa on February 27 for the men’s Big Ten tournament that runs through March 2.
“It’s so nice having the women’s meet here because we can train our men in between sessions,” Looze said. “It’s our pool, and we swim well in our pool. I am really looking forward to it.”
