Last February, IU women’s swimming and diving earned the Big Ten title in its home Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center, edging out Michigan through a four-day contest. Wednesday, the defending champions head to Ames, Iowa, hoping to replicate that success.
Since they took second place in Bloomington in 2019, the Wolverines have gone undefeated in dual meets and been ranked as high as No. 1 in the country. SwimSwam favors them to take the 2020 conference crown over the Hoosiers by 74.5 points.
Entering the pool as an underdog is nothing new to the Hoosiers, who have encountered eight different ranked opponents this season. Minnesota, Northwestern and Ohio State will add to that list, rounding out a schedule that has pitted IU against some of the country’s best swimmers.
Among those top competitors is Michigan’s sophomore Maggie MacNeil, who owns elusive NCAA A-cuts in both the 100 butterfly and backstroke. Her teammate, senior Miranda Tucker, claims the Big Ten’s fastest finish in the 100 breaststroke.
Michigan has the most robust depth chart of any school contending this week, but Wisconsin’s may boast the single most formidable performer. Senior Beata Nelson’s times in the backstroke sprints are the best in the nation.
IU has its own key pieces in freshmen Cora Dupre and Emily Weiss, but Nelson and Tucker have the advantage that comes with experience.
Still, IU head coach Ray Looze said he is not concerned about his young athletes, particularly Weiss, getting stage fright under the spotlight in Ames.
“Emily wants to win, and she’s not afraid of anybody,” Looze said.
Weiss’ competitive drive has propelled her to B-cuts in the breaststroke, where she is joined by sophomore Noelle Peplowski.
Peplowski has experienced the honor and burden carried by Weiss. Last year, she became the first Hoosier since Lilly King to swim at the NCAA Championships as a freshman. That feat is likely to become less rare in March, as Dupre and Weiss are top-10 nationally in their respective events.
With a rapidly-evolving young core and a pair of senior pillars in freestyle endurance specialists Cassy Jernberg and Maria Paula Heitmann, IU has ample speed to keep pace with the elite class of the conference.
When his squad prepared for its second meeting of the season with Louisville in January, Looze noted the difficulty of beating a team twice. He went so far as to call it one of the hardest challenges in sports.
As a grudge match with Michigan on one of college swimming’s biggest stages approaches, Looze’s theory will prove beneficial for IU should it reign true. It would also affirm his summation of the Hoosier’s largest defeat this season.
“I think that loss to Michigan is going to be a blessing in disguise,” Looze said.
