BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For the first time in nine years, Indiana men’s and women’s swimming combined for five of the six available Big Ten weekly awards in a cycle, the conference announced Wednesday (Jan. 24). The haul includes sweeps of the men’s honors as well as the swimmer and diver of the week awards.
Oct. 14, 2014, was the last cycle that Indiana had five weekly award winners. Anze Tavcar, James Connor, Ali Khalafalla, Brooklyn Snodgrass and Kennedy Goss all secured honors after they led IU to season-opening wins over Auburn. IU athletes have combined for 11 swimming and diving awards this season.
All five Hoosiers featured this week are previous award winners, though four earned the honor for the first time this season.
On Friday (Jan. 19), the No. 5/7 Hoosiers defeated No. 17/16 Michigan at the Wolverines’ home pool in Ann Arbor. The men dominated U-M 182-118, while the women showed grit to triumph 152-148; a result decided by wins in the last two events – the 400-yard freestyle relay and 1-meter diving.
Big Ten Women’s Swimmer of the Week – Anna Peplowski
Junior Anna Peplowski is the Big Ten Women’s Swimmer of the Week for the third time in her career and first time this season.
Peplowski led the Hoosier women in the pool, winning two individual events and contributing to a winning relay. Peplowski doubled up in the 200-yard freestyle (1:45.14) and 200-yard backstroke (1:56.46), winning both by over 1.5 seconds. Individually, she also finished third in the 500-yard freestyle with a time of 4:48.70, under a second shy of first place.
She also led off IU’s 400-yard freestyle relay victory that the Hoosiers needed to secure the team victory. Her 49.01 split was the quickest leadoff split of anyone in the race, as the Indiana’s quartet touched in 3:16.68.
Big Ten Men’s Swimmer of the Week – Brendan Burns
 Senior Brendan Burns is the Big Ten Men’s Swimmer of the Week for the sixth time in his career and first time this season.
Burns was Indiana’s lone three-event winner, sweeping the backstroke events while also touching first in the 200-yard butterfly (1:44.37). He won the 100 back in 46.83 and the 200 back, by three seconds, in 1:43.99.
The two-time NCAA Champion also led off Indiana’s victory in the 200-yard medley relay in 21.87, the fastest backstroke split in the event.
 Big Ten Women’s Diver of the Week – Anne Fowler
 Senior Anne Fowler received her sixth-career Big Ten Weekly award, fifth Big Ten Diver of the Week award and first weekly award of the season.
Fowler completed one half of Indiana’s sweep of the diving events inside Canham Natatorium, winning both the women’s 1-meter (323.85) and 3-meter (353.78) springboard events. IU had the top four finishers on 1-meter, an event which would end up decisive in the team score. Fowler also led Indiana in posting three of the top four performances on 3-meter.
 Big Ten Men’s Diver of the Week – Carson Tyler
 Junior Carson Tyler received his sixth-career Big Ten Weekly award, fifth Big Ten Diver of the Week award and first weekly award of the season.
Tyler was the men’s half of IU’s diving sweep, also winning the 1-meter and 3-meter events.
The junior had a career performance on the 3-meter boards, posting a personal-best 466.35 to win the event by 116.55 points and setting the top mark in NCAA Division-I this season. All six of Tyler’s 3-meter dives scored at least 69.75 points, and he had two scoring above 80 – including an 86.63-point final dive. Tyler won the 1-meter event with a 383.85 score, 10 points better than the runner-up.
 Big Ten Men’s Freshman of the Week – Mikkel Lee
 Mikkel Lee received his second Big Ten Freshman of the Week award.
Lee had one individual win, two relay victories and an individual runner-up finish on Friday. The freshman just out-touched junior teammate Rafael Miroslaw in the 100-yard freestyle with a 43.53 time to Miroslaw’s 43.77. He finished second in the 50-yard free in 19.84, just 11 seconds off the winning time.
Lee anchored both relays, as Indiana’s men bookended their meet with victories in the 200-yard medley relay (1:25.86) and 400-yard freestyle relay (2:53.92). He posted the second-best 50 free split in the medley, going 19.37, and was one of four under 44 seconds with second-best split in the freestyle relay, going 43.43.
