Indiana’s Mac Looze and Mikey Calvillo Win Twice on Day 1 of Ohio Valley Champs

94th Ohio Valley Championships 2022

• June 9-11, 2022
• Lakeside Swim Club, Louisville, KY
• LCM (50m)
• Results on MeetMobile: “94th Ohio Valley Championships 2022”

The first day of the 94th Ohio Valley Championships is in the books, and Indiana’s Mac Looze came out of day 1 with a pair of wins. The 22-year-old Looze, daughter of Indiana head coach Ray Looze, first took the women’s 400 IM in 4:48.49, holding off teammate Mariah Denigan (4:49.84). Looze was 5 seconds behind Denigan at the 200 mark of the race, but put together a 1:19.77 breast split and 1:03.82 free split for a 2:23.59 on the final 200. That means Looze actually negative split the race, a rare occurrence in an IM, splitting 2:24.90/2:23.59. Looze has a personal best of 4:42.22 in the 400 IM, a time which she swam at 2019 Summer Nationals.

Looze would then go on to win the women’s 100 breast in 1:10.76, narrowly beating out Ohio State’s Josie Panitz (1:10.88) and Kentucky’s Bridget Engel (1:10.90). With only the 200 freestyles between her 400 IM and 100 breast, Looze was able to swim just over 2 seconds off her personal best of 1:08.42, which she swam last summer.

Fellow Indiana swimmer Mariah Denigan, a member of the U.S. Open Water World Championships team this summer, took the women’s 1500 in 16:32.45, finishing nearly 50 meters ahead of the next-fastest person in the field. Denigan has a personal best of 16:13.09, which she swam at the Indianapolis Pro Swim Series in May of 2021. The swim on Thursday marks Denigan’s first 1500 of the year.

Indiana women kept the ball rolling as rising sophomore Anna Peplowski took the women’s 200 free, clocking a 2:01.91. The race was a flashback to the Big Ten Championships in February, as Peplowski went head-to-head with Ohio State’s Amy Fulmer in the 200 free final and the pair ended up finishing 1-2. At Big Tens, Fulmer was able hold off a charging Peplowski on the final 50, while last night Peplowski was able to fully run Fulmer down at the end and beat her at the touch. Fulmer touched in 2:01.97, just 0.06 behind Peplowski.

Louisville’s Gabi Albiero was the only non-Indiana women’s event winner on Thursday, taking the women’s 100 fly in 59.98. Albiero was actually a touch faster in prelims, where she swam a 59.74. It was Lakeside 14-year-old Charlotte Crush who finished 2nd, swimming a 1:00.55, which is the 3rd-fastest performance of her young career.

Indiana’s Mikey Calvillo was a double event on the day as well, taking the men’s 1500 early in the day with a 15:52.25, then clocking a 4:25.12 to win the men’s 400 IM. Calvillo put up a very solid front half on his IM, splitting 59.48 on fly and 1:08.06 on back for a 2:07.54 on the first 200. He was shakier on the back half, swimming a 1:16.22 on breast, and coming home in 1:01.36.

Indiana’s Josh Matheny led a 1-2-3-4 charge by the Hoosiers in the men’s 100 breast. Matheny swam a 1:02.81, leading the filed by nearly a second. Fellow rising sophomore Luke Barr took 2nd in 1:03.73, Jassen Yep was 3rd with a 1:04.28, and Max Reich took 4th in 1:04.42.

Louisville’s Murilo Sartori was dominant in the men’s 200 free, speeding to a 1:49.79. He touched as the only swimmer in the field under 1:52, putting together a great back half. Sartori was out in 54.26 on the first 100, then came home in 55.53, marking a difference of just 1.27 seconds between his 100s.

In the men’s 100 fly, NC State’s Luke Miller swam a 54.42, touching out IU pro swimmer Marius Kusch and Louisville’s Dalton Lowe.