Big Ten to Host 2022 Conference Meets at Purdue and Wisconsin

Next year’s Big Ten Conference Championships will be held at Wisconsin on the women’s side and Purdue on the men’s side. The women’s meet will take place February 16-19, and the men’s meet will take place from February 23-26. 

The 2021 Big Ten Championships were located at Minnesota on the women’s side, Ohio State on the men’s, and diving was held at Purdue.  Typically, swimming and diving are held at the same venue, but this past year was split up due to COVID-19.

In 2022, the men’s meet will take place at Purdue, which opened its pool in 2001. The women’s meet at Wisconsin will take place in a brand new pool, as ‘the Nick’ opened in fall 2020. 

At the 2021 women’s meet, Ohio State (1584 points) won their second Big Ten Title in a row. Michigan finished in second place with 1326.5 points, and Indiana was third with 1066.5 points. Northwestern and Wisconsin finished fourth and fifth respectively.

On the men’s side, Michigan defended their Big Ten Title in what was a close battle for the championship. Michigan scored 1401 points, Indiana scored 1357 for second place, and Ohio State scored 1322 for third. Purdue, Wisconsin, and Northwestern finished in a close fourth, fifth, and sixth. 

This upcoming season will be the first where student-athletes will be using their extra year of eligibility. Due to COVID-19, student-athletes were given an extra year of eligibility. The Indiana men have four men announced that they will swim their 5th year. Sophie Angus and Maddie Smith, two of Northwestern’s highest scorers, will also be returning for a 5th year. 

This upcoming season will also be the first season in 99 years for the men and 51 for the women where Michigan State will not have a team. Both men’s and women’s programs were cut back in October 2020 and neither have been reinstated. Iowa also cut both men’s and women’s programs but has reinstated the women’s. It will be the first time in 103 years where the Iowa men will not have a team.

Multiple Big Ten schools will bring in a top 20 ranked recruit from the April 2020 rank for the class of 2021. These recruits will look to make an impact at Big Ten’s.

In the top 20 on the women’s side, #5 Paige McKenna and HM Mackenzie McConagha will suit up for Wisconsin, #7 Ashley Strouse joins Northwestern, #10 Lindsay Flynn and #16 Letitia Sim will join Michigan, and #13 Mariah Denigan will join Indiana. 

In the men’s top 20, #3 Josh Matheny, #16 Luke Barr, and HM Jackson Carlile will join Indiana, #9 Tyler Lu will join Northwestern, and HM Connor Hunt will suit up for Michigan. 

Multiple current Big Ten athletes will be competing at the Tokyo 2020 Games for the U.S. including Ohio State’s Hunter Armstrong, Michigan’s Patrick Callan and Jake Mitchell, and Wisconsin’s Phoebe Bacon.