Burns, Peplowski Triple As Hoosiers Close Regular Season With Sweep of Louisville

Indiana vs Louisville

• Friday, January 27, 2023
• Ralph Wright Natatorium, Louisville, KY
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results
• Team Scores
  • Women: Indiana 155, Louisville 145
  • Men: Indiana 193, Louisville 107

Indiana finished off its 2022-23 regular season on a high note Friday, sweeping Louisville on the road as the Hoosier men and women finish the campaign with matching 7-1 dual meet records, only having lost to Texas back in October.

The Indiana women emerged with a narrow 10-point victory, 155-45, as senior Noelle Peplowski won three events, while Brendan Burns tripled up for the IU men as they rolled to a 193-107 victory.

“Every time we come to Louisville, it is a really challenging atmosphere,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “A credit to them, they packed the stands, and they were ready. They have two good teams, and I feel incredibly fortunate that we came out with a couple wins.”

WOMEN’S RECAP

Peplowski, a fifth-year senior, led the Hoosier women with wins in the 100 breast (1:01.06), 200 breast (2:09.05) and 200 IM (1:58.30), as she got back to her more primary events after contesting the 200 free and 200 back against Purdue the previous weekend.

Peplowski’s times in both the 200 breast and 200 IM are her fastest from a non-invite meet this season, with her season-bests sitting at 59.17 in the 100 breast, 2:05.52 in the 200 breast and 1:56.85 in the 200 IM, all set at the Ohio State Invitational in November.

The second-highest scorer of the women’s meet was sophomore Anna Peplowski, Noelle’s younger sister, who won the 200 free (1:47.35) and 200 back (1:56.47) for Indiana while also placing third in the 100 back.

Fellow sophomores Mariah Denigan and Anne Fowler also doubled up for the Hoosiers, with Denigan pacing the 500 free (4:48.14) and 1000 free (9:48.97), and Fowler sweeping the diving events.

Louisville won a total of four individual events, led by junior Gabi Albiero who topped the 50 free (22.41) and 100 free (48.92)—she was slightly quicker, 22.37, leading off the victorious Louisville 200 free relay. Six days prior, Albiero was significantly faster against Kentucky, producing respective times of 21.89 and 47.99.

In addition to topping IU in the 200 free relay by a decisive margin, 1:28.43 to 1:30.12, Louisville also claimed the meet-opening 200 medley relay in 1:38.47 to Indiana’s 1:39.23.

“I give a lot of credit to our women,” Indiana coach Looze said post-meet. “It’s rare to win a dual meet when you lose both relays, and our women fought hard. I think that shows a lot about our depth as a swimming and diving team. It wasn’t perfect, but we’ll take a win on the road in just a very challenging environment any day.”

Other Winners

• 100 Back – Kacey McKenna, Indiana – 54.91
• 200 Fly – Tristen Ulett, Louisville – 1:58.40
• 100 Fly – Christiana Regnenauer, Louisville – 52.75

Final Score

1. Indiana, 155
2. Louisville 145

MEN’S RECAP

Brendan Burns was one of seven athletes to win an event for the Indiana men as the Hoosiers decisively handled the Cardinals, as the senior tripled up with victories in the men’s 200 back (1:44.95), 100 fly (46.19) and 200 fly (1:43.28).

The defending NCAA champion in the 200 fly, both of Burns’ fly times are within striking distance of his season-bests, which sit at 45.81 and 1:42.45, respectively, ranking him tied for 17th and 13th in the nation this season. In the 200 back, he ranks 10th in the NCAA with his 1:40.66 showing from the OSU Invite.

Fifth-year Mikey Calvillo joined Burns as a multi-event winner for Indiana, topping the 500 free (4:23.60) and 1000 free (9:04.23), with the latter falling just short of his season-best (9:02.25) from the OSU Invite.

One notable head-to-head battle came in the 200 free, where IU sophomore Rafael Miroslaw (1:35.28) edged out Louisville’s Murilo Sartori (1:35.46). The two swimmers placed eighth and 10th last season at NCAAs, respectively, and are expected to be in the fight for a top spot in the event once again in March.

The top scorer for Louisville was sophomore breaststroker Denis Petrashov, as the Kyrgyzstani native won the 100 breast (53.60) and 200 breast (1:57.00) for the Cardinals, with his 100 breast showing just shy of his season-best 52.72 from the SMU Classic.

In the 200 breast, he’s been as fast as 1:54.68 this season, but notably did not race individually at the Purdue Invite and therefore should have more to give in the postseason.

Another noteworthy performance came in the 200 IM, where Indiana sophomore Luke Barr dipped under his season-best of 1:46.38 from the OSU Invite in 1:46.22 to claim the victory. Prior to swimming a personal best of 1:43.80 at the 2022 Big Tens, Barr went 1:48.78 around this point in the season last year.

In the 200 medley relay, Barr (22.32), Van Mathias (23.76), Tomer Frankel (20.51) and Gavin Wight (19.36) combined for a time of 1:25.95 to edge Louisville (1:26.50).

In the 200 free relay, Frankel (20.25), Miroslaw (19.48), Wright (19.36) and Mathias (18.87) got the job done for Indiana in 1:17.96, taking down the Cardinals (1:18.65), whose top leg came from Haridi Sameh on the lead-off in 19.70.

Sameh, a junior, also won the 50 free in 19.73, out-touching Mathias (19.77).

In the 100 free, it was Mathias (43.60), getting the better of Miroslaw (43.63), Sameh (43.66), Wright (43.91) and Sartori (44.01) in a tightly-contested battle.

“This is exactly what championship swimming feels like, so I think this was really good for us,” Looze said. “We really needed to be pushed to remember what it takes. We have to do better than this performance-wise, but we were tough, which is important.”

Other Winners

• 100 Back – Dalton Lowe, Louisville – 47.61
• 1-Meter – Andrew Capobianco, Indiana – 418.65
• 3-Meter – Carson Tyler, Indiana – 431.40

Final Score

1. Indiana, 193
2. Louisville 107