The No. 3-ranked Indiana University men’s swimming and diving team had great prelim performances at the 2018 NCAA Championships on Thursday morning at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minn. in record fashion.
The Hoosiers had a great prelims session, qualifying five individuals and one relay for the evening Championship Finals. IU also had one diver and another relay qualify for Consolation Finals.
200 Freestyle Relay
The IU 200 freestyle relay team of Ali Khalafalla, Blake Pieroni, Bruno Blaskovic and Josh Romany qualified ninth overall and will be the top-seed in Thursday night’s Consolation Final with a time of 1:16.55. The mark is the second-fastest in school history.
200 IM
For the first time since 1975, the Hoosiers will have two swimmers in the Championship Final of the 200 IM, as both Vini Lanza (1:42.05) and Ian Finnerty (1:42.08) earned their spots. Lanza qualified sixth overall, while Finnerty qualified seventh. Lanza’s time is tied for the sixth-best in school history, while Finnerty’s is ninth
50 Freestyle
Blake Pieroni continued his unbelievable start to the NCAA Championships, setting the school record in the 50 freestyle with a time of 18.93. With his mark, Pieroni qualified fourth overall for the Championship Final.
The senior is the first IU swimmer to qualify for the Championship Final of the 50 freestyle at the NCAA Championships since Jim Montgomery in 1976.
