ATHENS, Ga. – Indiana crushed two program records and tied its best-ever finish in the 800-yard freestyle relay, taking fifth at the 2024 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships Wednesday (March 20) inside Gabrielsen Natatorium on the campus of the University of Georgia.
IU’s finish marks its best relay placing since 2019, when it took second in the 400 medley relay and fourth in the 200 medley relay. The Hoosiers have finished fifth in the 800 only one other time: 2010.
Indiana sits tied-for-seventh on the team leaderboard after the first day of the 2024 NCAA Championships, totaling 36 points from the two opening night relays. The Hoosiers placed above their seed in both events.
“It was a good start for the Hoosiers,” IU head coach Ray Looze said. “We moved up a few spots in the medley relay and I think one spot in the 800 free relay, and I thought it was a fine start for the ladies.
“I still think there’s a lot left in the tank for these ladies. The 800 free relay foreshadows what we’re capable of. All four of those ladies did their lifetime best splits, and that was about a maximum of what we could do. I think if we can have performances like that on the rest of the relays, we’re going to continue to move up. We’ll take it one session at a time but good start – solid but not spectacular.”
Junior Anna Peplowski kicked off IU’s relay in 1:41.16, a program record in the 200-yard freestyle and the third-fastest time in that distance this season. Only Florida’s Bella Sims was faster in Wednesday night’s relay, going 1:41.03. Peplowski beat her own program record by nearly a second, going 1:42.04 in the relay at the Big Ten Championships last month. She owns the top eight times in program history and will swim the individual event Friday.
Indiana has chopped 4.41 seconds off its program record this season, finishing in 6:54.03 Wednesday. The same quartet of Peplowski, senior Ella Ristic, junior Ching Hwee Gan and sophomore Kristina Paegle beat their previous best by 2.99 seconds at the Big Ten meet in 6:55.45.
Indiana also earned second-team All-America honors in the 200-yard medley relay to kick off the night, finishing 13th with a time of 1:35.84. The Hoosiers finished three spots above their seed after coming in as the No. 16 relay. Indiana has earned All-America accolades in the 200 medley relay at eight consecutive national championships.
Junior Kacey McKenna tied the third-best leadoff leg of the relay, kicking things off in 23.58. Paegle’s 21.39 – the sixth-fastest anchor – closed IU’s NCAA debut swim.
RESULTS
200 MEDLEY RELAY
12. Kacey McKenna, Brearna Crawford, Chiok Sze Yeo, Ashley Turak – 1:35.84 (Second-team All-America)
800 FREESTYLE RELAY
5. Anna Peplowski, Ella Ristic, Ching Hwee Gan, Kristina Paegle – 6:54.03 (All-America, Program Record)
- 200 free – Anna Peplowski – 1:41.16 (Program Record)
HOOSIER ALL-AMERICANS
Brearna Crawford (200 medley relay*)
Ching Hwee Gan (800 freestyle relay)
Kacey McKenna (200 medley relay*)
Kristina Paegle (200 medley relay*, 800 freestyle relay)
Anna Peplowski (800 freestyle relay)
Ella Ristic (800 freestyle relay)
Chiok Sze Yeo (200 medley relay*)
