BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The Indiana University women’s swimming and diving team will head north to Ann Arbor, Michigan this week looking to win the program’s sixth conference title at the Big Ten Championships this week.
The four-day meet will begin with on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. On Thursday throughSaturday, the teams will swim a preliminary session in the morning at 11 a.m. with the championship session to follow at 6:30 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.
Scouting the Hoosiers
Indiana enters this week’s Big Ten Championships ranked No. 13 in the nation in the latest CSCAA/TYR Top 25 poll. Michigan is ranked No. 3 in the country, while Wisconsin checks in at No. 12. Ohio State (No. 18), Purdue (No. 21), Minnesota (No. 22) and Penn State (No. 25) round out the seven Big Ten teams in the national rankings.
During the dual meet season, the Hoosiers posted an impressive record of 9-6 against one of the most difficult schedules in the country. IU went 2-1 against Big Ten competition, beating Wisconsin and Purdue, but falling to Michigan.
“Based on seed times we have a good shot at a top-three finish in conference with Michigan and Minnesota as pre-event favorites,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “Our main focus is to be consistent session by session, dominate preliminaries, win close races and have more fun than any other team on deck. The great fact about such championships is that seedings don’t decide outcomes, people do.”
With Indiana head diving coach Drew Johansen leading Team USA at the FINA Diving World Cup 2016 Rio de Janeiro February 19-24, IU assistant coach Kelly Gufford will be leading the Hoosier divers this week at the Big Ten Championships.
“We are looking forward to the Women’s Big Ten Championships,” Gufford remarked. “It’s going to be a strong competition but our ladies are ready to compete. We have trained at a high level all season and are prepared for this championship.”
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 seven years, winning the title three-straight times from 2009 to 2011. The Hoosiers have finished second the last three seasons. Indiana also won the league title in 2003 and 2007.
2015 Big Ten Championships
Last year at the Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio, the Hoosiers placed second overall with a total of 591, falling short to Minnesota who won with a score of 618.5.
Indiana captured seven Big Ten titles last season, while also winning four silver and two bronze medals. Gia Dalesandro won the 200 butterfly, while Brooklyn Snodgrass won both the 100 and 200 backstroke. Jessica Parratto won the platform dive for the Hoosiers. Both Snodgrass and Parratto are taking Olympic years this season and will not compete at the 2016 Big Ten Championships.
Freshman Kennedy Goss won both the 200 freestyle and the 500 freestyle en route to being named First-Team All-Big Ten and Freshman of the Year. Joining Goss on the All-Big Ten First-Team was Gia Dalesandro, Haley Lips, Jessica Parratto, Brooklyn Snodgrass and Grace Vertigans.
The Hoosier 800-freestyle relay team of Lips, Goss, Vertigans and Snodgrass won the gold with a Big Ten Championships record time of 6:59.10. Parratto also set the conference record in her win in the platform dive with her score of 424.45, while Snodgrass also set B1G records in her two wins.
Weekly Big Ten Honors
Indiana’s Lilly King was honored four times this season by the Big Ten, earning Swimmer of the Week honors twice and Freshman of the Week honors twice as well. Gia Dalesandro was named Swimmer of the Week once, Lacey Houser was named Diver of the Week once, and Miranda Tucker was named Freshman of the Week twice.
@IUSwimandDive
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Swimming news courtesy of Indiana Swimming & Diving.