2021 NCAA ‘A’ Finalist Noelle Peplowski Returning to Indiana for 5th Year

2021 NCAA A finalist in the 200 breaststroke Noelle Peplowski will return to Indiana to use her COVID-19 fifth year of eligibility. Peplowski will be finishing up her degree in Sport Marketing and Management as well as a minor in psychology.

“Hey Siri, play “One More Time” for the Hoosiers🖐🏼”

Peplowski spent her first four seasons as a Hoosier. This past season, Peplowski went to NCAAs where she finished 16th in the 100 breast (59.71), 21st in the 200 breast (2:08.46), and 37th in the 200 IM (1:57.50). Peplowski was one of five swimmers to score individual points at 2022 NCAAs.

Peplowski also made a huge impact at the conference level for the Hoosiers. In February 2022, Peplowski finished second in the 200 breast (2:07.32), fifth in the 200 IM (1:55.88), and seventh in the 100 breast (59.43). She scored 76 individual points, the second most of any swimmer only behind her younger sister Anna Peplowski who scored 81 points.

Although she did not make the final in the 200 breast at 2022 NCAAs, Noelle Peplowski has made a huge impact for the Hoosiers in the event in previous years. In both her freshman year (2019) along with her junior year (2021) she finished sixth in the event. Notably, she also has been the runner-up in the event at the conference level for three years in a row now.

In addition to her success in the 200 SCY breaststroke, she has also had success in the event long course. Most recently, she finished fourth in the 200 LCM breast at US Nationals swimming a huge personal best time of 2:27.44. She hadn’t been under the 2:30 mark since summer 2019 and continuing that momentum into the college season would be huge.

Noelle Peplowski‘s best times are:

• 100 breast: 58.91 (2020 Big Tens)
• 200 breast: 2:06.46 (2021 NCAAs)
• 200 IM: 1:55.88 (2022 Big Tens)
• 400 IM: 4:08.89 (2020 Big Tens)
• 500 free: 4:41.51 (2019 NCAAs)

The return of Noelle Peplowski is huge for the Hoosiers as they finished third at 2022 Big Tens and 11th at 2022 NCAAs. Her return also continues the strength of breaststroke that Indiana has had in recent years, even after Big Ten Champion and junior Emily Weiss medically retired midway through the 2021-2022 season.

Noelle is the second NCAA scorer to announce their return for Indiana this upcoming season as Mackenzie Looze will also be taking a fifth year. The return of both Noelle Peplowski and Looze for this upcoming season means that 146 out of the team’s 242 senior points at Big Tens will be returning. Based on SwimSwam’s previous math, this means that Indiana will have 752 returning points, the second most of any Big Ten school and only 20 points behind this past season’s champion Ohio State who is returning 772 points.

Peplowski told SwimSwam that her motivation to return for another year was because she could “not pass up the opportunity to spend another year with my sister, best friends, and great coaches and teammates. I love being a Hoosier and I’m very blessed I get to do it all one more year!”