Indiana men’s swimming and diving kicked off the NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships on Wednesday at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way, Washington. The championship meet consists of four days of competition, which concludes Saturday.
The Hoosier quartet of junior Matt King, seniors Luke Barr and Finn Brooks and graduate student Brian Benzing posted a time of 1:20.92, which set a record for an all-American team. The time earned Indiana a fifth-place finish in the 200-yard medley relay.
Big Ten Champions and No. 2 ranked Indiana entered the meet as a strong contender to win the title. The Hoosiers' close loss to No. 1 University of Texas in November marked their only defeat during the season.
Indiana closed the day with a sixth-place finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay. The team of junior Owen McDonald, seniors Rafael Miroslaw and Kai van Westering and graduate student Tomer Frankel completed the swim in 6:06.76. Their effort marked the team’s season best time by 4.6 seconds.
Going into day two, Indiana’s 54 team points is tied with the University of Georgia for third place in the 22-team event.
1. Texas - 74
2. University of California, Berkeley - 72
3. Indiana/Georgia - 54
5. North Carolina State University – 50
6. Arizona State University - 48
Competition will continue Thursday with the finals of the 500-yard freestyle, 200-yard IM, 50-yard freestyle, 1-meter dive and 200-yard freestyle relay.
