Swims You Might Have Missed: 2025 Big Ten Championships

2025 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS

• Dates: Wednesday, February 19–Saturday, February 22 | Wednesday, February 26–Saturday, March 1
• Location: McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion, Columbus, Ohio | Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota
• Defending champions: Indiana women (1x) |Indiana men (3x)
• 2025 champions: Ohio State women | Indiana men
• Women: Championship Central | Fan Guide | Results
• Men: Championship Central | Fan Guide | Results

Big Tens played out the way we thought it might, with a dominant Indiana and resurgent Michigan on the men’s side, and a gripping battle for the women’s championship that was eventually won by Ohio State. A big part of OSU’s victory was the performance of their freshmen, but there were a number of other swimmers who stepped up elsewhere as well that you might have missed.

Eliot Kennedy – Minnesota – Women’s 1650 free

Back in December, Kennedy took two seconds off her best time from the 2024 NCAAs to go 16:08, but less than three months later, she shattered that with her biggest PB in the event since 2022. She dropped 14 seconds to go 15:54 and place third, qualifying for her second NCAAs. Not only that, but this time would have scored last year and is seeded to do so again as she ranks joint-tenth. She dropped time from conference champs last year, and doing so again could put her in with a chance of double-digit points, which will be key for the Golden Gophers – she’s their only swimmer currently seeded to score.

Krista Marlin – Ohio State – Women’s 200 back

Marlin qualified for the big dance last year, swimming the 200 back and 200/400 IM, which was her event lineup again for conferences this year. She was just outside of scoring last March, finishing 17th in the 200 back and 19th in the 400 IM, but dropped time in all three events at Big Tens, most noticeably a 200 backstroke that now ranks her 13th nationally. She came in with a PB of 1:52.65, which she beat twice, going 1:51.29/1:51.33 as she finished third. That consistency should stand her in good stead at NCAAs, and she’s not far off the points in the IMs as well after dropping 2.01 and 2.34 seconds in the 200 and 400, respectively.

Mary Cespedes – Indiana – Women’s 200 breast

Cespedes is another success story for Ray Looze in breaststroke. She came into her freshman season at 2:14, and by December had dropped three seconds already. Not slowing down, she dropped another three at Big 10s to go 2:08.46 in the final, finishing fifth. That was enough to qualify her for NCAAs at the first attempt, and given her drops so far, it wouldn’t be out of the question for her to sneak into a final there.

Miranda Grana – Indiana – Women’s 400 Medley Relay

Grana was already a star when transferring to Indiana, having been a double ‘A’ finalist in the backstrokes at last year’s NCAAs whilst with Texas A&M. She was strong in those events again at Big 10s but didn’t swim the stroke on the 400 medley relay, instead swimming the fly leg. She had a huge leg there, splitting 49.83, nearly three seconds faster than Anna Peplowski was at last year’s NCAAs. She’d won the individual 100 fly in a PB of 50.80, but was nearly a second quicker flying and gives the Hoosiers a top-5 split for NCAAs, where they’ll look to hang with Texas, Florida and Tennessee. Surprisingly for Indiana, it’s perhaps the breaststroke leg that’s their weakest on that relay

Nikki Venema – Northwestern – Women’s 800 free relay

Venema’s previous PB in the 200 came from another leadoff, back at 2023 Ivy’s for Princeton. That qualified her for NCAAs, and she made it again this year after going 1:44.06 to drop over a second and a half from her season best. She had some big drops in the 100 as well, with three PBs as she knocked half a second off to go 47.90 in the individual final. She isn’t seeded to score, but at #20 in the 200 free it wouldn’t take much for her to get amongst the points.

Colin Geer – Michigan – Men’s 200 IM

Tyler Ray isn’t the only Michigan sophomore who’s been having a big year. Like Ray, Geer scored last year at NCAAs as they brought home 4 points apiece. He’s expanded his range this year however, and showed that off in the 200 IM on Day 2. He swam 1:41.13 in prelims, a time that would score at NCAAs, but there was more to come in finals. He just missed out on the podium as he finished fourth there but went 1:40.65, a total drop of over two seconds. That’s seventh-fastest in the NCAA this year, and along with Gal Cohen Groumi (third), gives Michigan one of the best 1-2 punches in the nation. He had a fab meet elsewhere as well, taking a second off his 100 fly and two off his 200 fly as he came within a quarter of a second of Dylan Bosch’s school record with a 1:39.58. He’s a threat to be a three-event scorer at NCAAs, which would be a boon for a Michigan team looking to make the top-10.

Joshua Staples – Northwestern – Men’s 1650 free

Staples was the 2022 Junior Pan Pac Champion in the 400/800/1500 freestyles, but has had a slow start to his career at Northwestern with his best times in yards before conferences standing at 4:24/15:24. It looks like he’s a big taper swimmer though, as he kicked off Day 2 by dropping nine seconds in the 500 to make the ‘A’ final with a 4:15.83, although he did add slightly in the evening. The 1500 was even more of a drop, down to 14:53.20, which, despite being on the wrong side of the bubble for NCAA qualification, is even more indication that he’s adjusting to yards. With bests of 3:48/7:56/15:18 in long course, he’s set himself up nicely for some more big drops in his sophomore year.

Ryan Healy – Michigan – Men’s 400 IM

Healy’s 3:42.85 in the 400 IM final would have qualified for NCAAs last year, but at tied #41, he’s outside the bubble this year. That would have been the furthest thing on his mind coming into Big Tens, though, as his PB stood at 3:49.33 from midseason. The Michigan sophomore dropped five seconds in prelims, and a further 1.6 seconds in the final to finish sixth. He took time off each hundred, but most of all on breaststroke, where he went from a 1:05 to a 1:02. Last summer, he dropped three and half seconds in the big pool to go 4:18 and could be set for a breakout junior year.

Ozan Kalafat – Michigan – Men’s 100 breast

Kalafat switched up his event lineup at Big Tens this year, swimming the 50 free on Day 2 rather than the 500, and that looks like it could have been a good decision. His focus is breaststroke, and this was the year he really broke through there. He dropped a second off his 100, going 51.53 to put himself well inside the bubble for NCAA qualification, which would be his first individually. Not content with one event there, he gave himself a second by going 1:53.1 in the 200 – not quite under the likely cut line, but well under the ‘B’ cut and a near two-second best time.

Mario McDonald – OSU – Men’s 50 Free

McDonald’s best time prior to Big Tens was 19.57 – a solid conference time, but not close to the podium or NCAA qualification. He smashed that time in prelims to go 18.97, enough to qualify for NCAAs, and to have scored in every previous year. He added slightly to miss the podium, but after finishing 15th last year, making the ‘A’ final was already a big jump. A much quicker first 25 was key for him, as he went out in 9.1 and kept it under 10 seconds coming home. Oh, and with his prelims swim, he took the crown of first Michigander under 19 seconds in the 50 free.

Joe Polyak – Minnesota – Men’s 200 Breast

Polyak came into Big Tens with a PB of 1:57.90 from December 2023, which he had nearly matched at the start of February with a 1:57.97. He had a huge swim in prelims, going 1:53.40 to take four and half seconds off, although that left him just outside the likely NCAA qualification bubble in the event. No matter though, as he dropped that down even further in the ‘A’ final, finishing fifth in 1:52.67 just behind a quartet of Indiana swimmers. Minnesota has proven it can train breaststrokers with Max McHugh. Could they have another breakout star in the making?