BIG TEN – MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, February 27 – Saturday, March 2
- University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (Central Time Zone)
- Defending Champion: Indiana (1x) (results)
- Live results
- Live Video
- Championship Central
On day 3 of the Men’s Big Ten Championships, the IU Hoosiers broke the B1G record in the 200 free relay, surpassing the 2013 mark of 1:16.42 with a 1:16.01. The winning time also set a new IU program record, which was originally broken at the 2018 NCAA DI Championships with a 1:16.31.
Indiana swapped out 3 legs from last year’s relay (Khalafalla, Pieroni, Romany), with Bruno Blaskovic being the only returning member of that group to contribute to the new 2019 mark.
Comparative Splits
| IU, 2019 | IU, 2018 | Michigan, 2013 | |
| 50 | Apple (19.29) 19.29 | Khalafalla (19.40) 19.40 | Turk (19.48) 19.48 |
| 100 | Blaskovic (18.88) 38.17 | Pieroni (18.88) 38.28 | M. Ortiz (19.08) 38.56 |
| 150 | Lanza (18.91) 57.08 | Blaskovic (18.83) 57.11 | Fletcher (19.27) 57.83 |
| 200 | Hamblin (18.93) 1:16.01 | Romany (19.20) 1:16.31 | B. Ortiz (18.59) 1:16.42 |
Original report
200 FREE RELAY FINALS
B1G Meet Record– 1:16.42 MICHIGAN (Turk, M. Ortiz, Fletcher, B. Ortiz)- Pool Record– 1:15.79 IU (S Bilis, R Held, A Schiellerup, D Williams)
- Indiana (Apple, Blaskovic, Lanza, Hamblin)- 1:16.01
- Ohio State (Loy, Gaziev, Chavez, Sugar)- 1:16.36
- Minnesota (Becker, Thomas, Pokkinen, Yudashkin)- 1:17.24
The Hoosiers took their 5th victory of the session, with diver James Connor winning the 3-meter beforehand. The relay of Zach Apple (19.29), Bruno Blaskovic (18.88), Vini Lanza (18.91), and Brandon Hamblin (18.93) eclipsed the 2013 B1G record of 1:16.42.
Taking a close second and also going under the B1G record was the Ohio State relay (1:16.36). Taking third was the Minnesota relay with a 1:17.24.
The Hoosier’s record-breaking relay is now #5 in the NCAA, along with Ohio State’s #8-ranked relay.
James Connor should have his own article. For anyone who was there, he was electric. Nerves of absolute steel. What a shame that his performance is glossed over like this. (B1G Swim parent, not IU)