2023 WOMEN’S BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Wednesday, February 15 – Saturday, February 18, 2023
- Canham Natatorium, Ann Arbor, MI
- Defending Champions:
- Women: Ohio State (3x)
- Live Results
- Live Video
- Championship Central
- Day 2 Finals Live Recap
- Fan Guide
Things are heating up at the 2023 Women’s Big Ten Swimming and Diving Championships in Ann Arbor, MI. Ohio State has won the last three Big Ten titles and entered these championships as the favorites to win a fourth-straight.
The Buckeyes are in first through the first two days of the meet, but a very tight battle at the top of the standings has developed. Ohio State comes into Friday at 441 points, just 11.5 ahead of Indiana and 17.5 points ahead of Michigan, who currently sit in third.
Here are the scores after day two of the meet:
TEAM SCORES AFTER DAY 2
- Ohio State – 441
- Indiana – 429.5
- Michigan – 423.5
- Wisconsin – 347
- Minnesota – 297
- Northwestern – 244
- Penn State – 200
- Rutgers – 188
- Nebraska – 164
- Purdue – 151
- Iowa – 107
- Illinois – 106
We expected Indiana to make a push at Ohio State this year after finishing third last year, but things are even closer than expected right now. Indiana has a diving advantage over Ohio State but the Buckeyes have superior depth in the pool. That means the question between those two teams is can Indiana’s diving advantage overcome Ohio State’s swimming advantage through the next two days?
That’s an exciting story in itself, but perhaps the most interesting element of these championships as things stand now is Michigan. The Wolverines took second at last year’s meet but lost their top three scoring swimmers from last year in Maggie MacNeil, Olivia Carter, and Victoria Kwan, who accounted for a total of 250 points.
Despite the heavy losses, Michigan is sticking around through the first two days of the meet, finding themselves only 17.5 points out of first place. The Wolverines brought in a huge freshmen class this year, a class which is largely made up of sprinters. That class is showing up in a big way for Michigan so far, with freshmen Katie Crom (500 free), Devon Kitchel (200 IM), and Brady Kendall (50 free), all making ‘A’ finals yesterday. Additionally, Michigan has stayed highly competitive in the relays, having taken second in the 200 medley and 800 free, and third in the 400 medley relay. The Wolverines have actually scored more relay points than Ohio State so far, with only Indiana having outscored them.
It also needs to be noted that Michigan’s divers showed up in a big way yesterday as well. After scoring 35 points in 1-meter diving last year, Michigan saw freshman Kiarra Milligan take second and senior Lucy Hogan sixth last night, scoring 52 points between them.
Things are very tight right now in the team battle, so this morning’s prelims are going to be critical. Indiana had the most ‘A’ finalists of any team yesterday, but the fewest overall finalists, so the key for them will be getting swimmers deeper down the roster into the top 24 this morning. Ohio State’s recipe has been working for years, and it’s led to them holding the lead at this point of the meet as well. For the Buckeyes it’s all about the healthy mix of phenomenal top-end talent and swimmers who will get into the ‘B’ and ‘C’ finals. Michigan needs their underclassmen to keep the momentum going and hope their divers continue to feed them points as well.
Who’s this diver, skyler Liu, competing for IU? Unless I’m mistaken has she competed at a single event for IU before this? Or did they just fly her in for championship season🤦♂️
She’s a freshman who recently joined the roster. That’s all I know at the moment but when we find out more, we’ll report it
It would be wonderful if Michigan State was here.