The No. 3-ranked Indiana University men’s swimming and diving team closed a historic 2018 NCAA Championships on Saturday night at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minn.
The Hoosiers finished third overall in the team standings with a total of 422 points. Texas won a fourth-straight NCAA team title with a score of 449 points, while California took second with a total of 437.5 points. The 422 points scored are the most for the team in 49 years, when Indiana scored 427 in 1969.
The finish for the Hoosiers is the best for the program in 43 years, when IU took second in 1975. Indiana won a total of four NCAA titles over the week, the most for the team since winning six crowns in 1973. The top-10 finish for the Hoosiers at the NCAA Championships is the sixth in the last seven years.
For the third-straight season, Indiana finished as the top Big Ten team at the NCAA Championships – the best stretch for IU since accomplishing the feat for 15-straight seasons from 1964-78.
Over the course of NCAA Championships, the Hoosiers had 12 individuals earn a total of 42 All-America honors – the most in program history in 44 years since the team tallied 50 in 1974. Blake Pieroni led the way, earning All-America accolades in all seven of his events. Pieroni ends his stellar career with a staggering 19 All-America certificates.
Indiana swept the CSCAA Division I Coach of the Year awards, as Ray Looze was named Swimming Coach of the Year and Drew Johansen was named Diving Coach of the Year.
Junior Ian Finnerty was dominant in the Championship Final of the 200 breaststroke, winning the NCAA championship with a Big Ten, school and pool record time of 1:50.17.
Finnerty won his second NCAA title in as many days, becoming the first man in IU history to win both the 100 and 200 breast crowns in one season. The championship is the second in program history, as Finnerty joined Tom Tretheway in 1965 as NCAA champions in the 200 breast.
In the Consolation Final of the 200 breaststroke, senior Levi Brock placed eighth to finish 16th overall with a time of 1:56.32.
Vini Lanza had a historic finish for Indiana in the Championship Final of the 200 butterfly, taking third overall with a Big Ten and school record time of 1:39.75. With his mark, Lanza becomes the seventh-fastest performer in history in the event. Lanza’s finish is the best for a Hoosier in the event in 45 years, when Jim Montgomery won the title in 1973.
Andrew Capobianco capped his outstanding freshman season by placing third in the Championship Final of the platform dive with a total of 435.30 points. Capobianco was one of only two freshmen in the nation to score points in all three diving events.
Diving was a huge component of the Hoosiers’ historic week, as the diving squad scored an amazing 98 points, the most of any team in the nation. The 98 points scored by the diving team alone would have placed them 13th in the team standings.
In the Championship Final of the 100 freestyle, Pieroni has the best finish for a Hoosier since Jim Montgomery in 1977, placing fourth overall with a time of 41.51. The time is the fourth-fastest in school history.
In the Consolation Final, Blaskovic took eighth to finish 16th overall with a time of 42.43.
Samy placed seventh in the Consolation Final of the 200 backstroke to finish 15th overall with a time of 1:41.66.
