Watch Wire-to-Wire Battles in Both Men’s and Women’s 400 Free Relays at IU Invite

^{Reported by Spencer Penland.}

2018 IU INVITATIONAL

• Thursday-Saturday, November 15-17th
• Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center, Bloomington, IN
• Short Course Yards
• Live Results

WOMEN’S 400 FREE RELAY

Louisville beat out conference rival NC State to claim victory, posting a nation-leading 4:13.72. Lainey Visscher led their relay off in 49..92, followed by Casey Fanz (48.98), Arina Openysheva (48.22), and Mallory Comerford, who threw down a 46.60 anchor split. Avery Braunecker split a 48.68 on the 3rd leg of Louisville’s B relay, which came in 3rd (3:17.17). If Braunecker had been on the A relay, it likely would have been faster. NC State came in 2nd, posting a 3:15.02, thanks in part to a 47.7 split from Ky-Lee Perry. Indiana came in 4th and 5th, with their A going 3:18.21, and B 3:18.25. With their fastest combination of 4 swimmers, IU’s A would have been 3:16.24, which would have been under the relay B cut for NCAAs. Louisville was the first team this season to slip under the 400 free A cut, which sits at 3:14.97.

MEN’S 400 FREE RELAY

Bruno Blaskovic ran down NC State’s Noah Hensley to give Indiana the win in a very tight race. IU finished in 2:49.56 to NC State’s 2:49.79. Zach Apple led off for the Hoosiers in 42.26, while Jacob Molacek led off for the Wolfpack in 42.45. Mohamed Samy then posted a 42.43 split to Justin Ress‘ blistering 41.97 for The Wolfpack. Vini Lanza then split a 42.63 for IU, while Andreas Vazaios went 42.26 for NC State. Bruno Blaskovic then managed to out-split Noah Hensley 42.24 to 43.11, which was enough to give the Hoosiers the edge, and the fastest time in the nation this year. Both teams also achieved NCAA A cuts in the relay.