Press Release courtesy of Indiana Athletics
The No. 3/7-ranked Indiana University men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will wrap up the 2017-18 dual meet season on Friday afternoon when they face No. 14/10 Louisville.
The standard, 32-event dual meet will get underway at the Ralph Wright Natatorium on Friday at 2:00 p.m. ET. 1-meter and 3-meter diving will take place during the breaks of the swimming program.
Follow @IndianaSwimDive on Twitter for the latest updates on race results and find results on the Meet Mobile App.
Scouting the Hoosiers
The No. 3-ranked Indiana men’s team enters the meet with a record of 8-0 this season, having won the team’s past 21-straight dual meets. The men’s squad is 5-0 against ranked teams this year, earning wins over No. 2 Texas, No. 4 Florida, No. 8 Florida, No. 13 Notre Dame and No. 15 Tennessee.
The No. 7-ranked Hoosier women’s team defeated Purdue last Saturday to move to 4-4 in dual meets this season. IU has posted victories over No. 15 Kentucky and No. 18 Florida this season.
Scouting the Cardinals
The No. 14-ranked Louisville men’s team enters Friday’s meet with the Hoosiers coming off a 168.5-131.5 victory over Kentucky. The No. 10 Cardinals’ women’s team fell in a tightly-fought contest to the Wildcats, 161-139.
At last year’s NCAA Championships, the Louisville men placed 11th overall, while the women’s squad finished sixth.
Indiana Takes Down Purdue on Senior Day
The No. 3-ranked Hoosier men extended their dual meet win-streak to 21-straight with a 206-92 win over the Boilermakers, improving to 8-0 on the year. The No. 7-ranked IU women took down PU, 176-123, to move to 4-4 on the season.
Four Hoosiers Earn Weekly Big Ten Honors
Lilly King was named Big Ten Women’s Swimmer of the Week for the fourth time this year, while Jessica Parratto earned Big Ten Women’s Diver of the week for the fourth time as well. Michael Hixon was named the league’s Big Ten Men’s Diver of the Week, while Gabriel Fantoni was named Big Ten Men’s Freshman of the Week for the second-straight week.
On the year, the Hoosiers have combined to win 20 weekly Big Ten awards, four more than Michigan (16) and 12 more than Iowa (8). Both teams have won 10 honors each so far this season.
Hoosier Men Take Down No. 8 Michigan
The then-ranked No. 4 Hoosier men defeated No. 8 Michigan, 170.5-129.5, on Jan. 13. The win for the IU men’s team at Michigan was the first since the 1980-81 season.
Hixon, Connor Win Diving Titles
Michael Hixon and James Connor each won diving titles the week of Dec. 18. At the 2017 USA Diving Winter National Championships in Greensboro, N.C., Hixon won gold in the 3-meter dive with an impressive score of 1231.85. At the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Trials in Australia, Connor took home the gold in the 3-meter, winning with a score of 868.70.
IU Posts Impressive Times at Purdue Invitational
The IU women’s team won the Purdue Invite, topping the eight-team field with a total of 896.5 points, while the Hoosier men finished second with 847 points as No. 3 Florida won with a score of 1,009 points.
Over the course of the three-day meet, Indiana won an impressive 22 events. The Hoosiers also won eight of the 10 relays over the course of the three-day meet. IU also totaled six NCAA A cuts on the week as well.
King Wins Two USA Swimming Golden Goggle Awards
Lilly King took home two awards at the 2017 USA Swimming Golden Goggle Awards at the J.W. Marriott Los Angeles L.A. LIVE in November, winning Female Race of the Year honors, as well as Relay Performance of the Year. The Evansville, Ind. native now has three Golden Goggle Awards to her name, as she won Breakout Performer of the Year in 2016.
Along with King, IU’s Blake Pieroni and Ray Looze were also nominated for Golden Goggle Awards. Blake Pieroni was nominated as part of the men’s 4×100 freestyle relay at the 2017 FINA World Championships, while Looze was nominated for Coach of the Year.
Indiana Earns Three Victories over No. 13/18 Notre Dame and Cincinnati
The No. 1-ranked IU men’s team extended their dual-meet win streak to 19-straight, beating No. 13 Notre Dame, 146-95, and Cincinnati, 146-95. The No. 9-ranked Hoosier women’s team (3-3) took down Cincinnati, 190-53, but were edged by No. 18 Notre Dame, 123-120.
Five Hoosiers won two individual events on the day, with Blake Pieroni, Lilly King, Ali Rockett, Jessica Parratto and Michael Hixon pacing the Indiana effort. On the day, IU won 15 individual events and three of the four relays.
Looze Named SwimSwam Coach of the Month for October
Indiana head swimming coach Ray Looze was named SwimSwam’s Coach of the Month for October after leading IU to three wins over Texas and Florida. Swimming defending NCAA champions Texas and last year’s third-place team Florida on the men’s side, the IU men pulled off a big early-season win.
And on the women’s side, Indiana came within 26 points of Texas, a top-5 program a year ago, while beating up on Florida. IU swept all eight relays at the tri meet and won 25 of 42 swimming events between men and women.
Hoosiers Earn Three Wins Over Tennessee and Kentucky
The No. 1-ranked Hoosier men extended the team’s dual-meet win-streak to 17-straight, beating No. 15 Tennessee, 165-135, and Kentucky, 223-84. The No. 7-ranked Indiana women took down No. 15 Kentucky, 157-143, but were edged by No. 12 Tennessee, 159-141. The Hoosier women move to 2-2 on the dual meet season.
Overall, the men’s and women’s squads combined to win 14 events on the afternoon. The Hoosiers continued to swim fast early in the season, posting seven times in the top-10 across the country, including two best times in the nation.
Hoosiers Post Three Victories Over No. 2/3 Texas and No. 4/18 Florida
The No. 6 Indiana men defeated No. 2 Texas, 264-165, and took down No. 4 Florida, 242-187. With the two victories, the Hoosiers extend their dual-meet win streak to 15-straight. The No. 10 Indiana women beat No. 18 Florida, 251-178, but fell to No. 3 Texas, 226.5-200.5. For the meet, IU totaled 19 individual wins and an impressive seven relay victories.
IU Places Six Swimmers, Three Coaches on USA Swimming National Team
Six Indiana University swimmers along with three Hoosier coaches were named to the 2017-18 USA Swimming National Team in September. Current IU swimmers Ian Finnerty, Lilly King and Blake Pieroni were named to the team, along with alum Cody Miller and IU postgrads Zane Grothe and Amanda Kendall. IU head coach Ray Looze, associate head coach Mike Westphal and associate head sprint coach Coley Stickels were named Team USA coaches.
Looze Named ASCA Coach of the Year
Indiana University head coach Ray Looze was named George Haines Coach of the Year Thursday evening by the American Swim Coaches Association. Looze coached four swimmers onto the U.S. World Championships team this summer, including world record-setter Lilly King.
Looze was a women’s assistant coach on the USA staff in Budapest, and he led the Hoosier men to a seventh-place finish this summer at the NCAA championships, and his women took eighth.
King won four gold medals at the World Championships this year and set (or helped set) world records in all four events: the 50 breast, 100 breast and both the women’s and mixed 400 medley relays. Looze also put Cody Miller, Blake Pieroni and Zane Grothe onto the World Championships roster, and all won at least one relay medal in Budapest.
Hoosiers at the FINA World Championships
Indiana Swimming & Diving had quite the showing at the FINA World Championships this summer. Over the course of the week at the World Championships, Hoosiers swimmers – current, alumni and postgrad – combined to win seven gold and two bronze medals. The IU swimmers also combined to set four world records.
Indiana Men Win 2016 Big Ten Championship
The Hoosiers won the program’s 25th Big Ten Championship in 2016 – the first title for IU since 2006. IU won the team title with a total score of 1,504 points. For the week, IU won a total of 19 medals – 12 gold, five silver and two bronze. Indiana also won four of the five relays at the Big Ten Championships, marking the first time in program history the team accomplished that impressive feat. The dozen league crowns are the most for the team since winning 13 in 1976.
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