Indiana Finishes Third At The Big Ten Championships

Indiana Finishes Third At The Big Ten Championships

 BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – The No. 4-ranked Indiana University men’s swimming and diving team wrapped up the final day of competition at the 2020 Big Ten Championships with six medals added on Saturday night at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.

IU finished third in the team standings with 1,321.5 points. No. 3 Michigan won the team title with 1,548 points to snap Indiana’s three-year run of championships. No. 17 Ohio State finished as the runner-up with 1,329 points.

For the week, IU racked up a total of 17 medals – nine gold, three silver, and five bronze. Indiana won four of the five relays at the Big Ten Championships for a third-straight year – the longest stretch in program history.

The Hoosier 400 Freestyle Relay team of sophomore Jack Franzman, junior Bruno Blaskovic, sophomore Van Mathias, and senior Mohamed Samy claimed a fifth-consecutive gold medal with an NCAA A Cut time of 2:48.43. Franzman led off the relay with an NCAA B Cut split of 42.48.

Blaskovic earned his second freestyle-sprint individual gold medal of the week with a 41.88 in the 100 Freestyle Championship Final. He is the first Hoosier since Sam Gasowski in 1996 to win both the 50 Freestyle and 100 Freestyle events in a single Big Ten Championships. The only other IU swimmer to accomplish this feat is Jim Montgomery, who doubled in both 1976 and 77. For his accomplishments, Blaskovic was named 2020 Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships, the fourth-straight season in which a Hoosier has won the award. No other Big Ten team has carried a streak longer than three seasons since the inception of the award in 1991.

Continuing the A Final, Samy earned his second individual bronze of the week with a time of 42.38. Franzman occupied the fourth spot with a career-best time of 42.45. Sophomore Brandon Hamblin (43.76) and junior Griffin Eiber (43.87) took 13th and 17th, respectively, in the event.

For the second time in as many seasons, junior Gabriel Fantoni swept the backstroke events at the Big Ten Championship. He pulled out the victory in dramatic fashion, closing the final 50 yards in 25.00 seconds. He becomes the first Hoosier to win back-to-back Big Ten Championships in the 200 Backstroke since Mark Kerry in 1978-79. IU has held the top spot on the podium in four-straight seasons. Earlier in the week, Fantoni won the 100 Backstroke for the second-straight season.

Junior Jacob Steele finished 11th overall out of the Consolation Final in the 200 Backstroke with a time of 1:42.98, while freshman Jake Marcum won the C Final with a time of 1:43.61.

Freshman Brendan Burns captured his first-career Big Ten individual goal medal with a winning time of 1:40.98, a CBAC Pool Record. His career-best mark further cements himself as the second-best performer in program history in the event. His victory gives IU four-straight wins in the event. On the strength of his three individual medals, Burns was unanimously named the 2020 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, becoming the first Hoosier since Ian Finnerty in 2016 to win the award.

Mathias placed sixth out of the A Final in the event with a time of 1:44.56, while freshman Kai Bathurst finished eighth in his first-career Championship Final with a time of 1:45.55. Junior Corey Gambardella claimed 15th out of the Consolation Final with a mark of 1:46.16. Finally, senior Iago Moussalem (1:46.66) and freshman Harry Flanders (1:46.70) rounded out the Hoosier scoring with 21st and 22nd-place efforts, respectively. Sophomore Mikey Calvillo took bronze in the 1,650 Freestyle with a time of 14:54.02, one of just four swimmers to crack the 15-minute mark. Freshman Will Gallant finished fifth in the mile with a time of 15:00.07, junior Spencer Lehman placed 17th­ with a time of 15:20.55, and sophomore Ben McDade took 18th at 15:22.92. All four swimmers completed the race in an NCAA B Cut standard.

Sophomore Zane Backes won the Consolation Final of the 200 Breaststroke with a time of 1:54.22 to finish ninth overall. Junior Gary Kostbade (1:55.47) placed 12th out of the B Final after junior Thomas Vanderbrook (1:56.66) finished 20th and junior Matt Jerden (1:57.48) claimed the final scoring spot at 24th.

Sophomore Cole VanDevender earned a Consolation Final finish in his third-straight day of competition with a 10th-place effort of 326.70 points on the Platform Dive. Junior Mory Gould took 15th in the event with a six-dive score of 288.45.

Over the course of the Big Ten Championships, the Hoosiers broke six pool records, amassed 10 NCAA A cuts, 91 NCAA B cuts, eight NCAA Zones qualifying score and had 36 career-best performances.

UP NEXT

The Indiana University men’s swimming and diving program will compete in the 2020 NCAA Zone C Diving Championships and the 2020 NCAA Championships.

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INDIANA POSTSEASON ACCOLADES

SWIMMER OF THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Bruno Blaskovic

BIG TEN FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

Brendan Burns

FIRST-TEAM ALL-BIG TEN

Zane Backes

Bruno Blaskovic

Brendan Burns

Gabriel Fantoni

Jack Franzman

Brandon Hamblin

Van Mathias

Mohamed Samy

BIG TEN SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREE

Brock Brown

RESULTS

1,650 Freestyle

3. Mikey Calvillo – 14:54.02 (NCAA B Cut)
4. Will Gallant – 15:00.07 (NCAA B Cut)
5. Spencer Lehman – 15:20.55 (NCAA B Cut)
6. Ben McDade – 15:22.92 (NCAA B Cut)

200 Backstroke

1. Gabriel Fantoni – 1:40.31 (NCAA B Cut)
2. Jacob Steele – 1:42.98 (NCAA B Cut)
3. Jake Marcum – 1:43.61 (NCAA B Cut)

100 Freestyle

1. Bruno Blaskovic – 41.88 (NCAA B Cut)
2. Mohamed Samy – 43.38 (NCAA B Cut)
3. Jack Franzman – 42.45 (NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
4. Brandon Hamblin – 43.76 (NCAA B Cut)
5. Griffin Eiber – 43.76

200 Breaststroke

9. Zane Backes – 1:54.22 (NCAA B Cut)
10. Gary Kostbade – 1:55.47 (NCAA B Cut)
11. Thomas Vanderbrook – 1:56.66 (NCAA B Cut, Career Best)
12. Matt Jerden – 1:57.48 (NCAA B Cut)

200 Butterfly

1. Brendan Burns – 1:40.98 (NCAA B Cut, Pool Record, Career Best)
2. Van Mathias – 1:44.56 (NCAA B Cut)
3. Kai Bathurst – 1:45.55 (NCAA B Cut)
4. Corey Gambardella – 1:46.16 (NCAA B Cut)
5. Iago Moussalem – 1:46.66 (NCAA B Cut, Career Best*)
6. Harry Flanders – 1:46.70 (Career Best)

Platform Dive

10. Cole VanDevender – 326.70 (NCAA Zone Qualifying Score)
11. Mory Gould – 288.45

400 Freestyle Relay

1. Jack Franzman, Bruno Blaskovic, Van Mathias, Mohamed Samy – 2:48.43 (NCAA A Cut, Pool Record)