ATLANTA – No. 4-ranked Indiana placed a pair of All-America relays in the opening night of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship on Wednesday (March 23) inside McCauley Aquatic Center.
Indiana closed its night with a ninth-place finish in the 800 Freestyle Relay, winning the third of four heats and out-touching Virginia Tech by one one-hundredth of a second with a 6:11.84.
Freshman Rafael Miroslaw, sophomore Tomer Frankel, junior Brendan Burns and senior Van Mathias beat their No. 10 seed, swimming slightly better than their Big Ten Champion time of 6:11.96 coming in. Indiana extended its 800 free relay All-America streak to nine straight seasons, earning honorable mention honors.
IU’s 200 Medley Relay placed 15th with a 1:23.31 to grab an All-America placement for the fifth consecutive season.
“The evening started rough with our 200 Medley Relay,” IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “We definitely had higher hopes there, but I was really happy to move up from 10th to ninth in that 800 free relay. We went a little faster, which is difficult to do.
“I thought we had a little bit of deer-in-the-headlights feel tonight, and we’re going to address that tonight in the team meeting because it’s a tough meet, but we’re a really good team. I have the utmost confidence in these guys, and they need to be a little looser. It’s not a dissimilar from how we started the Big Ten Championships.”
Through just two events, IU sits in a three-way tie for 11th with 22 points.
“I think we’re well prepared. Tomorrow is probably our weakest day point-wise, so we just have to hang tough. A big part of our meet starts Friday and then, of course, Saturday. [We have] A lot of meet left.”
RESULTS
200 MEDLEY RELAY
15. Gabriel Fantoni, Josh Matheny, Tomer Frankel, Bruno Blaskovic – 1:23.31 (All-America Honorable Mention)
800 FREESTYLE RELAY
9. Rafael Miroslaw, Tomer Frankel, Brendan Burns, Van Mathias – 6:11.84 (All-America Honorable Mention)
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HOOSIER ALL-AMERICANS
Bruno Blaskovic (200 Medley Relay*)
Brendan Burns (800 Freestyle Relay*)
Gabriel Fantoni (200 Medley Relay*)
Tomer Frankel (200 Medley Relay*, 800 Freestyle Relay*)
Josh Matheny (200 Medley Relay*)
Van Mathias (800 Freestyle Relay*)
Rafael Miroslaw (800 Freestyle Relay*)
* – Denotes All-America Honorable Mention
