The Indiana University women’s swimming and diving team will head to West Lafayette, Ind. this week looking to win the program’s sixth conference title at the 2017 Big Ten Championships.
The four-day meet will begin with on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. On Thursday through Saturday, the teams will swim a preliminary session in the morning at 11 a.m. with the championship session to follow at6:30 p.m.
Live results for the swimming events can be found at IUHoosiers.com. Live results for the diving events can be found at DiveMeets.com. For more information on the Women’s Big Ten Championship, including a schedule of events, fans can click HERE.
The Big Ten Championships will be streamed live via BTN Plus on BTN2Go. The Big Ten Network will also televise Saturday’s finals Sunday, Feb 19 at 10:30 a.m. ET. Complimentary access to BTN2Go is available to viewers connected to the internet network of a Big Ten university. Fans elsewhere can sign up for the pay-per-view webcasts.
Scouting the Hoosiers
Indiana enters this week’s Big Ten Championships ranked No. 15 in the nation in the latest CSCAA/TYR Top 25 poll. IU is one of five league teams in the poll along with Michigan (No. 6), Wisconsin (No. 12), Minnesota (No. 21) and Ohio State (No. 22).
During the dual-meet season this year, the Hoosiers posted an overall record of 7-4 and a Big Ten mark of 2-1, beating both Michigan State and Purdue. IU again faced one of the toughest schedule in the country, with eight of the 11 teams earning a spot in the national poll.
“We are excited to see the Hoosier ladies have a comprehensibly successful competition in both swimming and diving over the next four days” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “The key to having a great championship meet is to have seven consecutive sessions where we support each other better than any other team in the Big Ten. If our women do that, we will be in position to maximize our abilities.”
Indiana head diving coach Drew Johansen will lead the IU divers in to West Lafayette this week, as the contingent – including 2015 NCAA and Big Ten champion in the platform dive Jessica Parratto along with senior Michal Bower – will look to score critical points for Indiana.
“We are really looking forward to the championship season,” Johansen said. “Jessica and Michal both had terrific years for us. Michal has really had an outstanding senior season and Jessica has reacclimated herself to the springboard coming off the Rio Olympics.”
Big Ten Championship History
The Indiana Hoosiers women’s swimming and diving team has won five conference championships in program history.
IU has placed first or second at the Big Ten Championships in each of the last eight years, winning the title three-straight times from 2009 to 2011. The Hoosiers have finished second the last four seasons. Indiana also won the league title in 2003 and 2007.
2016 Big Ten Championships
At last year’s league championships, Indiana finished second overall with 1,207.5 points, falling just short of host Michigan who won the team title with a total of 1,361.
Lilly King was name Big Ten Freshman of the Year and First-Team All-Big Ten after winning four gold and one bronze medals in her first Big Ten Championships. Joining King on the All-Big Ten First Team were Marie Chamberlain, Gia Dalesandro, Kennedy Goss, Haley Lips and Grace Vertigans. Delaney Barnard and Miranda Tucker were named Second-Team All-Big Ten.
Over the course of the Big Ten Championships, the Hoosiers posted some impressive accolades. Overall the team totaled seven school record swims, two Big Ten records, four Big Ten meet records, five Canham Natatorium records, six NCAA A cuts, 59 NCAA B cuts and 37 personal-best marks.
Last year, IU claimed six Big Ten titles – Haley Lips (500 freestyle), Lilly King (100 and 200 breaststroke), Gia Dalesandro (200 butterfly) and both the 200 and 400 medley relays.
IU Racks up Medals at FINA Short Course World Championships
Lilly King led a group of five IU swimmers that won medals at the 2016 FINA Short Course World Championships in Windsor, Ontario in December. Over the course of the six-day competition, current, former and postgrad Indiana swimmers combined for 12 medals – six gold, five silver and one bronze. King took home five medals, including four golds, while Blake Pieroni won two silver medals and one bronze. IU alum Cody Miller won a gold medal to go with a silver.
Also winning medals on the week were Kennedy Goss and IU postgrad Zane Grothe. Goss won gold with Team Canada in the 800 freestyle relay, while Zane Grothe won silver with Team USA in the 800 freestyle relay.
IU Sends 11 to Rio Olympics, Winning Seven Medals
The Indiana Swimming and Diving program sent 13 swimmers, divers and coaches to the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics – James Connor, alumna Amy Cozad, Marwan Elkamash, Kennedy Goss, Michael Hixon, Ali Khalafalla, Lilly King, alum Cody Miller, Jessica Parratto, Blake Pieroni and Anze Tavcar. Drew Johansen served as the head coach of USA diving, while Ray Looze was an assistant coach for USA Swimming.
At the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, the IU swimmers and divers won a total of seven medals – four golds, one silver and two bronze. Lilly King headlined the group with two gold medals, while Cody Miller won gold and bronze. Blake Pieroni earned a gold medal as a member of Team USA’s 4×100 freestyle relay team, junior Kennedy Goss earned a bronze medal as a member of Team Canada’s 4×200 freestyle relay team and junior diver Michael Hixon won silver in the men’s 3m synchronized springboard.
King Wins Two NCAA Titles in 2015
Indiana’s Lilly King dominated the breaststroke at the 2016 NCAA Championships, winning both the 100 and 200 breast with the fastest short-course yard times in history. The freshman broke every record in the event with her historic swim – the American, NCAA, NCAA Meet, U.S. Open, Indiana school, Big Ten and Georgia Tech Pool records – and owns all of the aforementioned records in both the 100 and 200 breast. In total, King recorded an impressive four All-America honors at her first NCAA Championships.
IU Swimming & Diving on Social Media
Be sure to keep up with all the latest news on the Indiana men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams on social media – Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
news courtesy of Indiana Athletics.