The Indiana swim and dive team is off and running in 2023, dominating Kentucky on Wednesday in the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.
Both the men and women had comfortable victories, the men winning 232-66 and the women 218-82.
The Hoosiers got off to a great start in the diving pool, claiming two of three podium positions in all four events. Junior Carson Tyler swept the men’s events, winning both the 1- and 3-meter championships. Notably, he dominated the 1-meter, finishing with 35.96 more points than second place finisher junior Quentin Henninger. Henninger also finished third in the 3-meter championships.
Junior Skylar Liu dominated the diving pool for the women, winning both the 1- and 3-meter championships. IU swept the women’s 1-meter, with freshmen Lily Witte and Ella Roselli claiming second and third respectively in their first collegiate competition.
Their momentum carried over into the swimming events. The Hoosiers took first place in all but two races — the women’s 800-meter freestyle and the men’s 200-meter butterfly. Even in those events, IU claimed at least one podium position.
The Hoosiers finished first, second and third in 11 total events between both teams. Freshman Amhed Hafnaoui controlled the freestyle events, winning the 800-meter freestyle (8:04.76), finishing second in the 200-meter freestyle (27.76), and as a part of the 400-meter freestyle relay team (3:22.57).
Junior Josh Matheny and senior Jassen Yep were the dominant breastrokers of the day. They took the top two spots in the 100 and 200 meters, with Yep winning the 200 (2:15.99) and coming in second to Matheny in the 100 by just under two seconds (1:02.14).
On the women’s side, junior Anna Peplowski had a great day in the freestyle and backstroke events. She won the 200-meter backstroke (2:12.76), 200-meter freestyle (2:00.86), and swimming as a part of the women’s 400-meter medley relay team.
Senior Anna Freed won the 200-meter individual medley (2:19.57) and finished fourth in the 200-meter backstroke (2:16.70), her usual events. She was also asked to step outside her comfort zone. Head swimming coach Ray Looze asked her just minutes before warm-up to compete in the 800 freestyle, much to her discontent. However, she still managed a third-place finish (9:03.21), receiving commendations from Looze.
“Anna took it in stride, was our top scoring female, and it’s not her thing,” he said. “I was really proud of her.”
Despite the large margin of victory, Looze kept his stance from the Cream and Crimson exhibition scrimmage last week that there is plenty of room to improve.
“It might have been a dominant win, but we weren’t great by a long shot,” he said after the meet.
But, he also praised his team’s willingness to accept harsh coaching.
“In this day and age, if you push them, that can be seen as a negative, but people like to be pushed,” he said. “These guys are really allowing us to press the right buttons and pull the right levers that will serve us well at the end of the season and beyond.”
Indiana improves to 1-0 on the young season. The Hoosiers travel to Columbia, Missouri, for a meet with two more SEC opponents, Missouri and Auburn on Oct. 18.
