The No. 3-ranked Indiana University men’s swimming and diving team qualified 19 swimmers and divers for Thursday night finals at the 2018 Big Ten Championships at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minn.
Among the 19 swimmers and divers, nine will be competing in Championship Finals, including three each in the A Finals of the 200 IM and 1-meter dive. Four will compete in B Finals, while six will swim in C Finals.
500 Freestyle
Adam Destrampe will represent the Hoosiers in the Championship Final of the 500 freestyle after qualifying eighth overall with a personal-best time of 4:19.00.
Trey Hubbuch will lead three Hoosiers in the C Final of the 500 free after coming in with a time of 4:22.72. Spencer Lehman (4:23.66) and Ethan Curl (4:24.36) will also swim in the C Final for IU. Both Curl and freshman Corey Gambardella tied for 24th overall, but IU elected to scratch Gambardella to avoid the swim-off and allow Curl to swim on Thursday night.
200 IM
Defending Big Ten champion Vini Lanza will be the top seed for tonight’s Championship Final of the 200 IM, touching the wall with a time 1:42.06. Lanza’s mark is the sixth-best in IU history.
Joining him in the A Final will be Ian Finnerty (1:42.06)Â and Blake Pieroni (1:43.92), who qualified fourth and sixth overall, respectively. Wilson Beckman will swim in the B Final after touching the wall in a personal-best time of 1:45.26. Freshman Jacob Steele will swim in the C Final after posting a PR of 1:47.13.
50 Freestyle
All five Hoosier swimmers qualified for the finals of the 50 freestyle, led by Ali Khalafalla who will be No. 3 seed after posting a time of 19.22. Khalafalla’s time is the seventh-best in IU history. Freshman Bruno Blaskovic will join him in the Championship Final after recording a personal-best mark of 19.36.
Nikola Miljenic (19.63) will swim in the B Final after touching with a PR, while both Oliver Patrouch (19.87) and Josh Romany (19.98) will be in the C Final.
1-Meter Dive
Michael Hixon, James Connor and Mory Gould all earned spots in the Championship Final of the 1-meter dive on Thursday night. Hixon was the top qualifier with a score of 465.70 that ranks as the fourth-best score in IU history. Connor was the No. 2 qualifier with a total of 445.10 that ranks as the sixth-best mark in school history. Freshman Mory Gould scored a personal-best 370.45 to earn his spot in the A Final.
Both Andrew Capobianco (342.20) and Cody Coldren (341.70) qualified for the B Final of the event for the Hoosiers.
The No. 3-ranked Hoosiers will continue competition at the 2018 Big Ten Championships on Thursday evening with the finals of the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 1-meter dive and 400 medley relay. The action gets started at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis.
