MINNEAPOLIS – Indiana men’s swimming and diving is bringing a trophy back to Bloomington after finishing as the No. 4 team in the nation at the 2023 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on Saturday (March 25) inside the Jane K. Freeman Aquatic Center.
The Hoosiers scored 379 points to earn their fourth top-five finish of the last five championships. Indiana remains among college swimming’s elite – in the last five years, only four team have consistently finished top six nationally: Cal, Texas, Florida and the Indiana Hoosiers. IU finished just short of third, five points back of Texas.
Over the week, three different Hoosiers won individual national championships, six program records were smashed, 10 medals were earned, and 10 IU athletes combined for 37 All-America honors. Indiana outperformed its No. 6 CSCAA national ranking as well as the psych sheet projections, which simulated a fifth-place performance.
“It was one of the major goals for the boys all year long to get a trophy, and what a battle,†IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said.†You really had six elite teams that the meet revealed, and we just feel so grateful that the guys just laid it on the line all day today. All the way from prelims to finals, and then the divers really gave us a shot with the way they performed.
“Final four, baby! We got a trophy, and that means you’re one of the best teams in the country, I’m so proud of them. It’s so gratifying that we can bring this home to Indiana University.”
Sophomore Carson Tyler joined the legendary list of Hoosier national champions on Saturday when he won the program’s first platform diving title and 21st diving total overall. Tyler scored 476.30 points to outduel Tennessee’s Bryden Hattie with 455.10. On his fifth dive, Tyler created space with a perfect score on his Back 3 ½ Somersault Tuck to earn a 99.00. He clinched the title with an 81-point dive in round six.
“What an amazing ending to an unbelievable week,†IU head diving coach Drew Johansen said. “Carson was spectacular tonight. His fifth-round dive was not only a perfect it, but it was done at the most critical moment of the event. Absolutely clutch!â€
Tyler was joined in the top three buy bronze medalist and fellow sophomore Quinn Henninger, who tallied a 408.60. Indiana’s 36 points in the platform diving event were crucial to the team’s top-four finish at the end of the night. Totaling five medals and two national titles, Indiana diving accounted for 104 points in just three events.
Senior Andrew Capobianco’s collegiate career ends after winning his third-career NCAA 3-meter title Friday which followed a runner-up performance on 1-meter the day before. The Olympian closes this chapter of his career a three-time national champion, six-time NCAA medalist and 12-time All-American.
“Quinn’s third-place finish helped secure the team’s overall fourth-place finish,†Johansen said. “This is the future of IU diving. I’m so happy for the team and so excited to see what comes next.â€
“Quinn and Carson were just remarkable,†Looze said, “and I have to give them a lot of credit for putting us in a position where our relay could do something.
Indiana was solid in all three disciplines all week: swimming, diving and relay. All five of IU’s relays had top-10 performances for the first time since the team’s third-place finish in 2019 and accounted for 136 points and all five finished higher than their seeding. On Saturday, the 400-yard freestyle relay quartet of senior Van Mathias, junior Tomer Frankel, junior Gavin Wight and sophomore Rafael Miroslaw placed sixth in 2:47.17, just six hundredths shy of the program record.
Individual swimming accounted for the remaining 136 points. IU swimmers earned eight first-team All-America (top eight) finishes and four medals. Senior Brendan Burns became the NCAA 100-yard backstroke champion on Friday with a program record 43.61. It was his first title in the event but second overall after winning the 200-yard butterfly a year ago. On Saturday, he followed that up with a national runner-up placement in the 200 fly.
Van Mathias’ fifth-year senior season of drastic time drops ended with three All-America finishes and a silver medal. Prior to this week, Mathias had never finished higher than 26th at the national meet.
Tomer Frankel was the only swimmer in the field to finish top-five in both the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly events. The junior from Israel set personal bests in both races and earned a bronze medal in the 100 fly with a program record 44.04.
RESULTS
100 FREESTYLE
- Van Mathias – 41.39 (All-America)
200 BREASTSTROKE
- Josh Matheny – 1:50.12 (All-America, Career Best)
200 BUTTERFLY
- Brendan Burns – 1:38.97 (NCAA Silver, All-America)
- Tomer Frankel – 1:40.34 (All-America, Career-Best)
PLATFORM
- Carson Tyler – 476.30 (NCAA Champion, All-America, Career Best)
- Quinn Henninger – 388.05 (NCAA Bronze, All-America)
400 FREESTYLE RELAY
- Van Mathias, Tomer Frankel, Gavin Wight, Rafael Miroslaw – 2:47.17
HOOSIER ALL-AMERICANS
Finn Brooks (200 Freestyle Relay*)
Brendan Burns (200 Medley Relay, 800 Freestyle Relay, 100 Butterfly*, 100 Backstroke, 400 Medley Relay, 200 Butterfly)
Andrew Capobianco (1-meter, 3-meter)
Tomer Frankel (200 Medley Relay, 800 Freestyle Relay, 100 Butterfly, 400 Medley Relay, 200 Butterfly, 400 Freestyle Relay)
Quinn Henninger (3-meter, Platform)
Josh Matheny (100 Breaststroke*, 400 Medley Relay, 200 Breaststroke)
Van Mathias (200 Medley Relay, 800 Freestyle Relay, 50 Freestyle*, 200 Freestyle Relay*, 100 Breaststroke, 100 Freestyle, 400 Freestyle Relay)
Rafael Miroslaw (800 Freestyle Relay, 200 Freestyle Relay*, 200 Freestyle*, 400 Medley Relay, 400 Freestyle Relay)
Carson Tyler (3-meter, Platform)
Gavin Wight (200 Medley Relay, 200 Freestyle Relay*, 400 Freestyle Relay)
* -Â Denotes Honorable Mention
