The Big Ten conference announced its 2025 Men’s Swimming and Diving postseason awards on Thursday, Apr. 3. Indiana won four of the five awards, taking the Swimmer, Swim Coach, Diver, and Diving Coach of the Year honors back to Bloomington.
Junior Owen McDonald earned the Swimmer of the Year nod. After transferring from Arizona State, he was the Hoosiers’ highest scoring swimmer at the 2025 NCAA Championships, scoring 42 individual points from placing third in the 200 IM (1:39.42), sixth in the 100 backstroke (44.16), and sixth in the 200 backstroke (1:37.59). He was also on three of Indiana’s All-American relays in Federal Way, Wash.
This is McDonald’s second postseason conference honor of the season. He was named the Swimmer of the Meet at the Men’s Big Ten Conference championships. There, he swept his individual events and broke Tyler Clary’s long-standing 200 backstroke conference record.
Ohio State’s Matthew Klinge denied the Hoosiers the awards season sweep. He was named the Big Ten Men’s Freshman of the Year for his impressive postseason debut. Klinge led a strong performance by the Buckeye freshmen at the Big Ten Championships, winning the 50 freestyle (18.78). He translated that success to an HM All-American nod in the 50 freestyle at NCAAs, placing 14th (18.96). He also swam on the Buckeyes’ scoring relays in the 200 medley relay and 200 freestyle relay.
Fresh off being named the CSCAA’s Diver of the Year for the second-straight season, Carson Tyler earned Big Ten Diver of the Year. This was his second-straight season winning this honor too. Tyler scored 49 points at this year’s NCAA Championships, the most on his team. The senior repeated as the NCAA champion on the 3-meter and the platform this year, bouncing back after missing the ‘A’ final on the 1-meter, to win the fourth and fifth NCAA titles of his career. His win on the platform was his third consecutive title in the event, making him the only diver to three-peat in the event at NCAAs.
Indiana swept the Big Ten’s postseason coaching awards for the second-straight season. Like his diver Tyler, Hoosier head diving coach Drew Johansen picked up conference award after being honored by the CSCAA earlier this week. Johansen led the Indiana divers to a sweep of the boards at the NCAA Championships. Tyler won the 3-meter and platform, while Quentin Henninger won the 1-meter, the first NCAA title of his career.
They’re just the second team in NCAA history to pull off the feat, following in the 1997 Miami diving squad’s footsteps.
Head coach Ray Looze earned back-to-back Big Ten Coach of the Year honors after guiding the Hoosiers to third at NCAAs. It was the highest finish by a Big Ten program this year and the Indiana men’s sixth top five finish in the past seven seasons. In addition to the team’s success on the boards, Zalan Sarkany and Jassen Yep won national titles for the Hoosiers. Sarkany defended his NCAA title in the 1650 free while Yep stunned the building by winning the 200 breaststroke.
The team earned 50 All-American honors, tying the program record set by the 1974 team as they rewrote the program record book. Along with 10 program records, Luke Barr, Brian Benzing, Finn Brooks, and Matt King opened the championships with an American record in the 200 medley relay (1:20.92).
INDIANA UNIVERSITY
BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA
HOME OF THE HOOSIER
SWIMMING AND DIVING TEAMS.
CONGRATZ TO OUR COACHES
AND STUDENT-ATHLETES FOR
THE [SUCCESSFUL] 24-25 CAMPAIGN!
WAIT TILL NEXT YEAR?!
The IU women also did just as well in their awards. They also won all but the freshman of the year. Anna Peplowski was Swimmer of the Year and Skyler Liu Diver of the Year.