The dates and locations for 2019 Big Ten women’s and men’s championships have been set.
For the women, the 2019 B1G Championships will be hosted by Indiana University at the Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center. The championships will run from Wednesday, February 20 to Saturday, February 23, 2019. Meanwhile, for the men, the 2019 B1G Championships will be hosted by the University of Iowa at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center from Wednesday, February 27 to Saturday, March 2, 2019. It is important to note that each of these meets will occur one week later than they did in 2018.
Indiana last hosted a conference championship meet in 2013 when they held the men’s Big Ten Championships. Opened in 1996, IU’s Counsilman Billingsley Aquatic Center has a seating capacity of approximately 1,200.
Iowa last hosted a conference championship meet in 2015 when they held the men’s Big Ten Championships. Opened in 2010, Iowa’s Campus Recreation & Wellness Center also has a seating capacity of approximately 1,200.
Last year, the women’s B1G Championships were hosted by Ohio State University, where the Michigan Wolverines won the team title with 1465 points ahead of Indiana (1152.5 points) and host Ohio State (1094.5 points). The 2018 men’s B1G Championships were held at the University of Minnesota, where the Indiana Hoosiers came out victorious with 1658 points ahead of Michigan (1617.5 points) and Ohio State (1300.5 points).
The women will have exactly 4 weeks between the start of their conference championship meet and the women’s NCAA Championship meet, which is set to take place Wednesday, March 20 to Saturday, March 23, 2019 in Austin, TX at the University of Texas. The men will have just shy of 4 weeks (27 days to be exact) between the start of their conference championship meet and the men’s NCAA Championships – also in Austin, TX – from Tuesday, March 26 to Friday, March 29, 2019.
Poor fans that have to suffer through 4 days at that IU pool! Beyond cramped, brutally hot and not a fun experience for the fans! The B1G has to do better! There are much, much, much better facilities which are comfortable and able to hold the crowd. School like Michigan and Indiana need to build new facilities if they want to host! Minn, OSU or the Nat are better options for all involved!
Preach!
How do Iowa and Purdue add up?
Iowa is tight, but the viewing is much better based on the seating configuration. Purdue’s not even in the converation and the air quality is awful! Your eyes burn inside of an hour!
Purdue hosted NCAAs in 2005 and 2010, so not sure how you’d say they’re not even in the conversation…
Braden,
I will clarify about Purdue, yes they have hosted in the past, but with Iowa and OSU’s newer facilities I believe they are out of the consideration set. Also the air quality is unbearable for a 4 day meet. For a meet like that, only OSU, Minn and the Nat should be considered.
The B1G schools need to step there game up with facilities.
Michigan? Great pool for B1G meet.