The No. 3-ranked Indiana University men’s swimming and diving team qualified 26 swimmers and divers for Friday night finals at the 2018 Big Ten Championships at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minn.
Among the 26 swimmers and divers, 14 will be competing in Championship Finals, including four each in the A Finals of the 100 backstroke and 3-meter dive. Six will compete in B Finals, while six will be in C Finals.
From the same day last year, Indiana has four more A Finalist, one more B Finalist and the same amount of C Finalists.
100 Butterfly
Vini Lanza will be the top seed in the Championship Final of the 100 butterfly on Friday night as the junior touched the wall in a NCAA A cut time of 45.25. Lanza’s impressive mark is the second-fastest time in school history.
IU will have three swimmers in the B Final, led by Nikola Miljenic who qualified ninth overall with a personal-best time of 46.47. Freshmen Gabriel Fantoni (46.68) and Bruno Blaskovic (46.76) both had PR’s to qualify.
In the C Final, Josh Romany (47.18) qualified with a personal-best time, while freshman Corey Gambardella earned his spot with a personal-best time of 47.54.
400 IM
Freshman Spencer Lehman was outstanding for the Hoosiers, qualifying for the Championship Final of the 400 IM with a personal-best time of 3:47.14. Lehman is the first Hoosier to qualify for the A Final of the 400 IM since Steve Schmuhl in 2015.
Both Trey Hubbuch (3:50.39) and Matthew Jerden (3:50.50) will swim in the B Final of the 400 IM after posting personal-best marks.
200 Freestyle
The Hoosiers will have the No. 2 and No. 3 seed for Friday night’s Championship Final of the 200 freestyle, as Mohamed Samy (1:33.94) and Blake Pieroni (1:34.01) both had great showings in the prelims.
100 Breaststroke
Ian Finnerty had a record-breaking performance in the 100 breaststroke prelims, earning the No. 1 seed for the Championship Final with a school, Big Ten and pool record time of 50.82. Finnerty’s time is a NCAA A cut and the second-best mark in the country this year.
Levi Brock had a career-best performance to earn the No. 2 seed for the A-Final, touching the wall with NCAA B cut time of 51.81. Brock’s time is the fifth-best in IU history and just missed a NCAA A cut by 0.07 seconds.
Sam Apa (53.62) will swim in the B Final after posting a PR, while both Matthew Jerden (54.60) and Jack Kucharczyk (54.97) earned spots in the C Final with personal-best marks.
100 Backstroke
Indiana put on a show in the 100 backstroke prelims, earning four of the top-seven seeds for the Championship Final on Friday night.
Freshman Gabriel Fantoni earned the No. 1 seed with a time of 45.82, while Mohamed Samy will be the No. 2 seed after posting a personal-best time of 46.52. Wilson Beckman recorded a PR of 46.87 to earn the No. 6 seed, while Jacob Steele will be No. 7 on Friday night after touching in a personal-best time of 47.00.
Senior Ali Khalafalla will swim in the C Final after registering a personal-best time of 47.56.
3-Meter Dive
For a second-straight day, the Hoosier divers had a tremendous showing. IU qualified an amazing four divers for Friday night’s Championship Final and had another score in the C Final.
James Connor qualified third overall with a total of 483.50 that ranks as the sixth-best score in IU history. Michael Hixon was fourth with a score of 475.35 that ranks as the eighth-best total in school history.
Senior Cody Coldren smashed his previous best in the event by over 30 points, qualifying fifth overall with a total of 434.80. Freshman Andrew Capobianco will be the No. 6 seed for the A Final after posting a 431.25.
Clark Carter took 24th overall in the event for Indiana, scoring one point for the Hoosiers with a score of 334.00.
The No. 3-ranked Hoosiers will continue competition at the 2018 Big Ten Championships on Friday evening with the finals of the 100 butterfly, 400 IM, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 3-meter dive and 200 freestyle relay. The action gets started at 7:30 p.m. ET at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis.
