KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – Indiana swimming and diving jumped up three spots in the team standings on Thursday (March 16) at the 2023 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships inside the Allan Jones Aquatic Center.
The Hoosiers sit sixth in the team standings with 83 points after posting top-15 finishes in all five final swims, including three top 10 placements and two podiums. Indiana also broke two records on Thursday.
“It was a really great day all-around for the Hoosiers,†IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “I was thrilled to see Ching Hwee Gan make her first A final in the 500 free, a notch in the All-America belt. Then, Noelle had a best time and scored for the first time in 200 IM. Then, to have two girls up in the 50 free was phenomenal, and I’m so proud of Kristina and Ashley. And congrats to Ashley for lowering the school record, not once, but twice. To cap it off with a 200 freestyle relay that got into the top eight, for a program that really has sprinted very well in recent memory, was great.
“We just have to keep doing what we’re doing. These girls are a whole lot of fun to be with, and they have a good spirit about them, and they’re having fun. That’s the name of the game here.”
After tying the 50-yard freestyle program record in prelims, senior Ashley Turak became the fastest woman in school history by blasting a 21.81 in the consolation final. Turak finished 10th, improving on her 19th-place mark a year ago for her second-career individual All-America honor.
Racing next to Turak in lane eight, freshman Kristina Paegle posted a 21.99 to place 13th in the event. Both athletes finished better than their seeds from prelims after neither were projected to score coming into the morning. Turak and Paegle now own the first and third fastest times in school history.
Separated only by the 1-meter diving final, Turak and Paegle then dropped splits of 21.43 and 21.65 in the second and third legs of the 200-yard freestyle relay. Sophomore Anna Peplowski and senior Elizabeth Broshears posted bookending splits of 22.13 and 22.27 as IU raced a program record 1:27.48 to finish eighth and on the podium for the first time since 2004, also an eighth-place finish. Indiana has reached the podium in multiple relays for the first time since 2019.
Sophomore Ching Hwee Gan was the lone individual podium finisher on Thursday, placing seventh in the 500-yard freestyle in 4:38.91. The Singapore native improved from her No. 12 seed coming into the meet and a year ago Gan placed 30th in 4:44.25.
Senior Noelle Peplowski showed marked improvement in the 200 IM, earning a 13th-place result after finishing 37th and 30th the last two seasons. She was seeded 24th at the start of the meet.
In a rare occurrence, IU diving went without a finalist in the 1-meter dive. Sophomore Skyler Liu scratched the event in anticipation of the 3-meter dive and platform events, in which she will be joined by junior Anne Fowler.
“We have been on one hell of a run,†IU head diving coach Drew Johansen said, “and we are grateful to have another chance tomorrow to do our best for this team.â€
Through two days, seven Hoosiers have tallied 16 All-America honors. Paegle leads the team with four, three of those coming in relays, and is slated to race the 200 freestyle and 100 freestyle in the coming days.
RESULTS
500 FREESTYLE
- Ching Hwee Gan – 4:38.91 (All-America, Career Best)
200 IM - Noelle Peplowski – 1:55.46 (Honorable Mention All-America)
50 FREESTYLE
- Ashley Turak – 21.81 (Honorable Mention All-America, Program Record, Career Best)
- Kristina Paegle – 21.99 (Honorable Mention All-America)
200 FREESTYLE RELAY
- Anna Peplowski, Ashley Turak, Kristina Paegle, Elizabeth Broshears – 1:27.48 (All-America, Program Record)
HOOSIER ALL-AMERICANS
Elizabeth Broshears (200 Medley Relay*, 200 Freestyle Relay)
Ching Hwee Gan (800 Freestyle Relay, 500 Freestyle)
Mackenzie Looze (800 Freestyle Relay)
Kristina Paegle (200 Medley Relay*, 800 Freestyle Relay, 50 Freestyle*, 200 Freestyle Relay)
Anna Peplowski (200 Medley Relay*, 800 Freestyle Relay, 200 Freestyle Relay)
Noelle Peplowski (200 Medley Relay*, 200 IM*)
Ashley Turak (50 Freestyle*, 200 Freestyle Relay)
* – Denotes Honorable Mention
UP NEXT
Friday kicks off with three Hoosiers in the 400 IM – Looze (4:09.67), Mariah Denigan (4:11.25) and Ching Hwee Gan (4:14.00) – who have all set personal bests faster than their seed times. Anna Peplowski, a top-15 seed in all three of her events coming up, will race her highest seeded event in the 200-yard freestyle. The Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships set a program record in 1:42.86 to lead off IU’s 800 freestyle relay on Wednesday. Paegle (1:46.69) will also race the event.
Peplowski will swim again Friday in the 100 back, where she is the No. 14 seed with a time of 51.62. The current program record sits at 51.05. Between those events, Anna’s sister, senior Noelle Peplowski, and fellow sophomore Brearna Crawford will compete in the 100-yard breaststroke, boasting seed times of 59.10 and 59.86, respectively.
Junior Anne Fowler and sophomore Skyler Liu will compete in the 3-meter dive competition after both medaled at the conference meet. Matching their medal finishes, Fowler and Liu were the Nos. 1 and 3 qualifiers out of Zone C.
