INDIANA vs KENTCUKY
- Wednesday, October 4, 2023
- Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center, Bloomington, IN
- LCM (50m)
- Results
TEAM SCORES
WOMEN
- Indiana – 218
- Kentucky – 82
MEN
- Indiana – 232
- Kentucky – 66
Indiana hosted Kentucky for an LCM dual meet yesterday at the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center in Bloomington. The Hoosiers handled the Wildcats in both the men’s and women’s meets, moving to 1-0 on the season.
MEN’S RECAP
Indiana freshman Ahmed Hafnaoui swam three individual events on the day, racing the 800 free, 200 free, and 400 free. Of note, Hafnaoui swam the 800 free and 200 free back-to-back, with only the women’s 200 free in between the races. He started in the 800 free, where he clocked an 8:04.76, winning the event by nearly 16 seconds. It was a well-swum race, as Hafnaoui went 4:00.38 on the opening 400m, then came home in 4:04.38 on the back half.
With only about five minutes between his events, Hafnaoui was then back in action in the 200 free, where he took 2nd in 1:49.63. Despite coming out of the 800, Hafnaoui still managed to hold his pace extremely well in the 200, splitting 26.21 on the first 50, then clocking splits of 27.76, 27.86, and 27.80 the rest of the way. It was Indiana senior Rafael Miroslaw who won the event, swimming a 1:48.62. Miroslaw swam a well-split race as well, going out in 53.35 on the first 100m, then coming home in 55.27.
Hafnaoui then went on to swim the 400 free later in the meet, speeding to a 3:56.51. With that swim, Hafnaoui won the race by nearly 10 seconds. Hafnaoui negative split the race, going 1:58.56 on the first 200m, then coming home in 1:57.95.
Hafnaoui capped off his meet by leading off Indiana’s 400 free relay in 51.97. Miroslaw went 2nd on that relay, splitting 49.19, then Kai Van Westering clocked a 50.82 on the 3rd leg, and Gavin Wight anchored in 50.59. The Hoosiers combined for a 3:22.57 on that relay, narrowly beating the IU ‘B’ relay, which swam a 3:22.91.
The lead-off on that ‘B’ relay was Indiana freshman Mikkel Lee, who swam a speedy 49.51. Yesterday marked Lee’s first meet as a Hoosier. Lee only raced two events yesterday, the relay and the 50 free. That’s almost certainly because he’s only recently returned from the Asian Games in China. Lee was fantastic in the 50 free yesterday, winning the event with a quick 22.59.
In addition to winning the 200 free, Rafael Miroslaw took the 100 free in 49.69. He won the race comfortably, touching first by 1.53 seconds.
Kai Van Westering helped that 400 free relay to victory, but he was also a double event winner individually. Van Westering swept the men’s backstroke events, first taking the 100 back in 56.75. He then went on to win the 200 back in 2:08.64, finishing as the only swimmer in the field to go under 2:10.
Indiana’s Josh Matheny had a great swim in the 100 breast yesterday, winning the race convincingly with a 1:02.14. It was IU teammate Jassen Yep who came in 2nd, swimming a 1:03.72. The roles reversed in the 200 breast, where Yep won in 2:15.99, while Matheny came in 2nd at 2:19.26.
Yep would go on to win the 200 IM as well, posting a 2:05.93. Unsurprisingly, he was great on the breaststroke leg of the race, splitting 34.96.
Indiana’s Finn Brooks put up a solid time in the 100 fly, winning in 53.55. He got out to a quick start, splitting 24.88 on the first 50m of the race.
IU also picked up a win in the 400 medley relay, swimming a 3:43.92. Brendan Burns (57.23), Max Reich (1:02.50), Brooks (53.15), and Luke Barr (51.04) teamed up to win that relay.
Kentucky’s lone win of the day came in the 200 fly, where Ryan Merani clocked a 2:01.42. The Wildcats only won one men’s event, but they did so convincingly, as Merani won by over 4 seconds.
Tyler Carson swept the diving events on the day. In 1-meter diving, Carson won out with a final score of 393.90. He then went on to rack up a score of 386.40 in 3-meter, winning there as well.
WOMEN’S RECAP
Indiana junior Anna Peplowski was in good form yesterday, winning two events for the Hoosiers. Peplowski took the 200 free in 2:00.86, winning by just over 2 seconds. She was out pretty fast, splitting 58.45 on the first 100m, but faded a bit on the back half of the race, coming home in 1:02.41. Nonetheless, it was a solid swim for Peplowski, who has a personal best of 1:57.02.
Peplowski then went on to win the 200 back, swimming a 2:12.76. She even split the race, going 1:06.17 on the first 100m, the bringing it home in 1:06.59.
Peplowski was also a member of the Indiana ‘A’ 400 medley relay, which won in 4:10.94. She led the team off in 1:01.41, then Brearna Crawford split 1:10.37 on breaststroke, Lily Hann clocked a 1:02.08 on fly, and Kristina Paegle anchored in 57.08.
Paegle would go on from that relay to win a pair of individual events as well, sweeping the women’s sprint free events. Paegle first won the 50 free in 25.82. That performance comes in a little over half-a-second off her personal best of 25.22. She then claimed victory in the 100 free, where she stopped the clock in 56.14.
Paegle also helped the Indiana 400 free relay to victory. She led the team off in 55.61, nearly half-a-second faster than she went in the individual event earlier in the meet. Ashley Turak went 2nd for the Hoosiers, splitting 57.75, then Ella Ristic clocked a 57.43 on the 3rd leg, and Sze Yeo anchored in 58.46. They finished in 3:49.23, winning by nearly 5 seconds.
Brearna Crawford was another double event winner for the Hoosiers, sweeping the breaststroke events. Crawford won the 100 breast in 1:10.43 before going on to take the 200 breast in 2:34.36. With the losses of Noelle Peplowski and Mac Looze from last year’s roster, Crawford is now leading an IU breaststroke group that’s a little bit thinner than what we’ve grown accustomed to over the years. Still, Crawford looked good yesterday and should be able to give Indiana the top end breaststroke speed they usually have.
After having a bit of a down season last year, Indiana’s Kacey McKenna looks like she might be back at her best. Having swum career bests in all three LCM backstroke events over the summer, McKenna looked great in the 100 back yesterday, swimming a 1:02.34 to touch out Kentucky’s Torie Buerger (1:02.53). For McKenna, it was an excellent swim, coming in less than a second off her personal best of 1:01.63, which she swam at the U.S. Nationals in late June. Yesterday, McKenna won the race on the first 50m, getting out in 30.59, exactly half-a-second ahead of Buerger’s 31.09.
In the 200 fly, Indiana’s Katie Forrester won by a wide margin, finishing in 2:14.54. It was sophomore Lily Hann who won the 100 fly, swimming a 1:01.31. Though the 100 had been a bit of a weaker event for the Hoosiers the past few years, things may be turning around. IU went 1-2-3 in the 100 fly yesterday, seeing Sze Yeo take 2nd in 1:01.85, and Forrester touch 3rd with a 1:01.91.
Anna Freed took the 200 IM in 2:19.57, pulling into the lead on the final 50 of the race. Ella Ristic also picked up a win on the day, taking the 400 free in 4:20.17. She negative split the race, going 2:11.76 on the opening 200m, then coming home much faster, splitting 2:08.41 on the back half.
Skyler Liu won both women’s diving events on the day. Liu took 1-meter diving with a final score of 301.88, then claimed victory in 3-meter as well, scoring 303.30.
the 400 between him and short Olympics mouth watering as was the worlds
Did UK shave for this dual meet?
Wondering when/if Ahmed will turn Pro?
With NIL does he need to? Can’t imagine whatever salary the Tunisian federation pays is great, he’d likely be living off sponsorship money anyway as a pro.
hard for foreigners to get NIL money
Yes and no, but actually yes. There’s plenty of money available and people willing to make deals, but most foreign NCAA athletes are on student visas, which don’t allow them to earn NIL money in the US. So NIL $ is right there … behind a locked door.
Purdue basketball scheduled a game in Canada so their Canadian star player can get NIL deals in Canada and not have to get a US work visa. I don’t see IU scheduling a meet in Tunisia any time soon.
800 – 200 double for Hafnoui is dirty
Be nice to have the NCAA LCM records available as a point of reference…..
Surely these times would be nowhere near LCM records but they are absolutely solid swims, especially that 200 5mins after a nice 800 (not “other worldly” 800 like he is capable of, just a nice 800).
For reference, at world’s he went 7.37 800, 3.40 400 (not his exact swim times but there abouts). But of course these world’s swims were days apart not minutes apart.
NCAA always hide behind SCY that many swimswammers were duped into thinking they are world class and world best.
So, when NCAA is swum in LCM, people are shocked how slow they’re in comparison to world championship times.
Ten thousands Hoosier fans, screaming and chanting in the stands of the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center- “JA-SSEN! JA-SSEN! JA-SSEN!” After suffering a narrow loss in the 100m breastroke to worlds finalist Josh Matheny, Yep grabbed a hold of the field for the rest of the meet and squeezed with all his might. In potentially Kentucky’s darkest day since December 6, 1980 when KFC’s Colonel Sanders passed on (God rest his soul), Jassen Yep awoke with a vengeance in his final two individual events of the day. First storming by the field in the 200m breastroke with a beautifully split race (32/34/34/33), Yep again proved that he is a force to be reckoned with his animalistic breastroking speed. If decimating the… Read more »
This is Guerra’s new account for sure
I’m digging what I am seeing this year with IU Men….between swimming & diving, they are top 3 at NCAA’s…IU Women…top 7….
If Hafnoui swims anywhere close to his performance at worlds he is going to destroy the 500y and 1650y records. Maybe we will see the first ever sub 14′
Also, I hope Clark Smith is enjoying these final days he has left in the record books.
What year are you from? lol
3000.
I hear not much has changed but they live underwater, so needless to say competitive swimming is thriving.
He beat Fonke by like half a second in the 1500 so i dunno about smashing his record by 12 seconds
But also Finke was 14:40+ at the same time he set the record
I say 1:32. 4:04, and 14:05 are more than possible within the next 18 months.