ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Indiana leads the pack after setting a program record and earning two relay medals in as many events during the opening night of the 2023 Big Ten Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships on Wednesday (Feb. 15) inside Canham Natatorium.
No. 8-ranked IU women’s swimming and diving earned 118 points on the first night, narrowly edging defending champion and No. 6-ranked Ohio State’s 116.
IU finished the night as the Big Ten Champion in the 800-yard freestyle relay after posting a 6:58.44 that set the program and pool records. The Hoosiers trailed slightly after sophomore Anna Peplowski’s opening 1:43.50 but took the lead thanks to sophomore Ching Hwee Gan’s 1:45.08 second leg and never looked back. Junior Mackenzie Looze (1:45.34) and freshman anchor Kristina Paegle (1:44.52) shut the door. IU improved by eight seconds from midseason, when they touched in 7:06.54.
“Anna had a great leadoff, and I thought Ching stepped up remarkably in her first time on that relay,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “Mackenzie had a really split and put Paegle in a good position. She had a nice freshman anchor. It wasn’t perfect, but we didn’t expect it to be at this juncture. It’s nice to set a school record and get the ‘W.'”
The gold medal in the 800 freestyle relay is IU’s first since the Hoosiers won five of six between 2010-15. Indiana women hold pool records in seven swimming events at Canham Natatorium. It was the first Big Ten title for all four swimmers.
In the opening race, the 200-yard medley relay Indiana matched its season-best from midseason, going 1:35.98 via sophomore Kacey McKenna (24.56), senior Noelle Peplowski (26.64), junior Elizabeth Broshears (23.45) and senior Ashley Turak’s career-best 50 free split (21.33). The same quartet went 1:36.07 at the 2022 NCAA Championships, where they placed 15th. The time ranks tied for seventh in program history as the Hoosiers are the fastest they’ve been since 2019.
“I thought our medley relay was a really good start,” Looze said. “All four girls showed some really good stuff. Kacey McKenna’s underwaters were awesome. Elizabeth Broshears showed great speed. Noelle [Peplowski] same thing. Ashley Turak had her best split ever at Indiana and the second-fastest of the whole field, so I was pretty happy with that. It would have been great to get second, but nonetheless to go 1:35 was good, they swam well, and it bodes well for every one of those women the rest of the meet.”
Between relays, the programs competed in an exhibition team diving event in which three divers from each squad executed a total of six dives, two from each board. Indiana divers produced the highest total for the unofficial competition, totaling 396.00 points ahead of runner-up Minnesota (367.00) and Purdue (355.30). Junior Anne Fowler, sophomore Megan Carter and recent newcomer and sophomore Skyler Liu dove for IU.
“It was a great day today,†IU head diving coach Drew Johnasen said. “We usually don’t dive on Wednesday, so it was nice to be in the finals environment and in that exhibition team event, which was really well received. The athletes enjoyed having that team component, it’s almost like a relay for diving, which was a lot of fun, and they all performed fantastic. So, it was a great start to the meet for us.”
TEAM SCORES
1. Indiana – 118
- Ohio State – 116
- Michigan – 112
t4. Wisconsin – 102
t4. Northwestern – 102
- Penn State – 98
t7. Rutgers – 90
t7. Minnesota – 90
- Nebraska – 80
- Illinois – 66
- Purdue – 64
- Iowa – 62
RESULTS
3. Kacey McKenna, Noelle Peplowski, Elizabeth Broshears, Ashley Turak – 1:35.98 (NCAA A Cut)
200 MEDLEY RELAY
800 FREESTYLE RELAY
1. Anna Peplowski, Ching Hwee Gan, Mackenzie Looze, Kristina Paegle – 6:58.44 (Program Record, Pool Record, NCAA A Cut)
UP NEXT
The 2023 Big Ten Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships resume Thursday for day two, the first full day of action. Athletes will compete in the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 1-meter dive and 400 medley relay, with preliminaries beginning at 10 a.m. ET. Finals are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. ET.
