Indiana Freshman Brendan Burns Will Swim 100 Fly/100 Back Double (HEAT SHEETS)

2020 B1G MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS

• When: Wednesday, February 26th to Saturday, February 29th | Prelims 11am | Finals 6:30pm
• Where: Indiana University (Eastern Time Zone)
• Defending Champion: Indiana Hoosiers (3x) (results)
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Indiana freshman Brendan Burns will swim the 100 fly/100 back double on Thursday at the Big Ten Men’s Swimming & Diving Championships in his first solo racing action at the conference championship meet after sitting out Thursday’s 3 individual events.

Burns is the top-ranked 100 butterflier in the Big Ten this season and the 7th-ranked 100 backstroker. He enters the meet in a tie for the 5th seed in the 100 backstroke after the scratches of Indiana’s Mohamed Samy and Michigan’s Nadav Aaronson.

Burns is also the 8th-fastest 200 freestyler in the Big Ten this season, though he chose to stick to the shorter races on day 2 of the meet. He’s already raced in all 3 of Indiana’s relays so far at the meet, so if we assume he’s only going to swim 4 relays and 3 individuals (which makes the most sense for points), it’s probable that he’ll be off the Indiana 200 free relay on Friday to avoid the triple in the evening session.

Samy, a senior at Indiana, will swim the 200 free as his lone individual event on Friday. He ranks 2nd in the Big Ten this season in the 200 free behind only Michigan’s Patrick Callan. Samy also ranks 3rd this season in the conference in the 100 back (behind a pair of Indiana teammates) and 10th in the 400 IM. He placed 4th in the 200 IM on Thursday evening.

As for the Michigan freshman Aaronson, who ranks 4th in the Big Ten this season in the 100 back (46.86), it doesn’t appear as though he made Michigan’s Big Ten roster this season – his best times were all done at a first chance meet two weeks ago, which is a meet he likely tapered for.

Michigan sophomore Bora Unalmis, who ranks 5th in the conference in the 400 IM this season, is in that same boat.

Other Noteworthy Absences on Day 3 (Friday):

• Wisconsin’s MJ Mao will swim both the 100 fly (where he should be the 7th seed) in favor of the 100 breast (where he’s the 5th seed). Last season at Big Ten’s, where Mao had his big breakthrough via a 1:52.40 time trial in the 200 breaststroke, he swam both 100 yard races, finishing 11th in the fly and 9th in the breaststroke. This year, he’s seeded in the 100 fly as a “no time,” though he has swum the race this year. That “no time” seed will give him a few extra heats of rest before the 100 breaststroke.
• Michigan’s Tommy Cope has opted for the 400 IM, where he’s the top seed on Friday, over the 100 breaststroke, where he ranks 5th in the conference this season. He sits ahead of teammate Charlie Swanson in the 400 IM. Swanson, the #2 seed is the three-time defending Big Ten Champion in the 400 IM.
• Northwestern freshman Federico Burdisso will swim just one individual event, the 100 fly, on Friday. He’s the 6th seed in that race in 47.01 and will swim in the same heat as his twin brother, Alessandro, the 21st seed, in the morning. Federico enters the meet as the 3rd-best 200 freestyler in the conference this season thanks to a late-January 1:34.15, but he only mustered a 1:35.04 to lead off Northwestern’s 800 free relay on Wednesday. He didn’t race an individual event on Thursday, though he did split 45.89 on Northwestern’s 400 medley relay.

Team Scores After Day 2:

1. Michigan – 555
2. Ohio State – 401
3. Indiana – 397
4. Wisconsin – 274.5
5. Purdue – 263
6. Penn State – 237
7. Minnesota – 227
8. Northwestern – 206.5
9. Iowa – 205
10. Michigan State – 146