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
- Day 3 Prelims Live Recap
- Day 3 Finals Live Recap
- Fan Guide
It took a few days, but the first meet record of the 2023 Big Ten Swimming & Diving Championships finally fell on Friday night.
Ohio State wrapped up a dominant night with its fifth win of the session and ninth overall victory in the 200 freestyle relay, where the quartet of Katherine Zenick (22.08), Nyah Funderburke (21.86), Teresa Ivan (21.69), and Amy Fulmer (21.07) combined for a record-breaking time of 1:26.70. That mark snuck under the previous meet record of 1:26.74 set by Michigan last year.
The Buckeyes also took down the former Michigan pool record of 1:28.29, which belonged to Ohio State from 2016.
Big Ten Championships Records, Splits Comparison
| Ohio State, 2023 | Michigan, 2022 | |
| 1st 50 | Katherine Zenick, 22.08 | Lindsay Flynn, 22.08 |
| 2nd 50 | Nyah Funderburke, 21.86 | Cheuk Kan, 22.12 |
| 3rd 50 | Teresa Ivan, 21.69 | Claire Newman, 21.53 |
| 4th 50 | Amy Fulmer, 21.07 | Maggie MacNeil, 21.01 |
| 200 free relay total | 1:26.70 | 1:26.74 |
Zenick, the individual champion in the 50 free and 100 fly this week, clocked a leadoff split that was identical to Lindsay Flynn‘s opening leg on Michigan’s 2022 relay squad. The Buckeyes pulled ahead of the Wolverines’ previous record pace at the midway point when Nyah Funderburke went .26 seconds faster than Michigan’s Cheuk Kan on the second leg.
The Wolverines’ back half of Claire Newman (21.53) and Maggie MacNeil (21.01) had a slight advantage over Ohio State’s Evan (21.69) and Fulmer (21.07).
Fulmer’s split was the fastest in this year’s field by a few tenths of a second.
“I actually had no idea where I was, I was just hoping for the best,” Fulmer said after the win. “Not going to lie, I kind of like blacked out, so I don’t really know what happened.”
The 200 free relay team takes part in Big Ten Network interviews after its outstanding win to close out Friday night. pic.twitter.com/RaPDJzbAMt
— Ohio State Swim/Dive (@OhioStSwimDive) February 18, 2023
200 FREESTYLE RELAY – FINALS
Meet Record — 1:26.74, Michigan (2022)Pool Record — 1:28.29, Ohio State (2016)- 2022 Champion — Michigan, 1:26.74
- NCAA ‘A’ Cut — 1:28.43
Top 8:
- Ohio State – 1:26.70 *Meet Record, Pool Record
- Indiana – 1:27.70
- Michigan – 1:27.91
- Penn State – 1:29.50
- Minnesota – 1:29.50
- Northwestern – 1:29.86
- Wisconsin – 1:30.52
- Purdue – 1:30.74
Indiana (1:27.70) and Michigan (1:27.91) were also under the previous pool record from 2016, a 1:28.29 belonging to Ohio State.
TEAM SCORES AFTER DAY 3
- Ohio State – 934
- Indiana – 848.5
- Michigan – 773
- Wisconsin – 649
- Minnesota – 529.5
- Northwestern – 464.5
- Penn State – 375
- Rutgers – 318.5
- Purdue – 311
- Nebraska – 299
- Iowa – 163
- Illinois – 155
The gap between first and third place was less than 20 points before the session, but now Ohio State has distanced itself from the pack on Day 3 thanks to five victories in seven events tonight. Meanwhile, Indiana picked up the other two wins, pulling away from Michigan in the battle for second place.
-.5 reaction time on that relay🤔
Not always, but usually a -.5 reaction time indicates a touchpad malfunction.
If it doesn’t, the jump is usually so obvious that getting dual confirmation is not hard to do – if the officials are paying attention.
The video isn’t great quality, but I was able to find a frame where Funderburke was clearly on the wall and Ivan was clearly on the block.