By Luke McGuire, Swimming World College Intern
The men’s Big Ten Championships have finally arrived!
The meet will be hosted by the University of Iowa from February 25-28 at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium. All ten B1G men’s teams — Michigan, Penn State, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue, Minnesota, Michigan State, Northwestern, Ohio State, and Iowa — will be competing.
All the info you need on the B1G meet can be found on the Championship Central web page.
Here are five races that you won’t want to miss at this year’s championship meet!
1. 800 FREE RELAY
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Expect the B1G Championships to start off with a bang with the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relay races on Wednesday evening. Last year, Michigan won the 800 freestyle relay with a blistering 6:09.85 — good for a Big Ten and NCAA record — and beat runner-up Wisconsin (6:19.22) by nearly ten seconds.
This year, Wisconsin enters the meet with the fastest 800 freestyle relay time (6:23.12) in the conference, and will need a big swim from senior Nick Caldwell and his teammates in order to hold off Michigan. The Wolverines lost the top two legs of their record-breaking relay in Michael Wynalda and Connor Jaeger, and should be in for a great race against the Badgers on Wednesday night.
2. 50 FREE
Photo Courtesy: Mike Comer/ProSwimVisuals.com
Michigan owns three of the top five 50 free times in the conference this season, with freshman Paul Powers leading the way at 19.51. Not far behind is Wolverine senior Bruno Ortiz at 19.57, and sophomore Vinny Tafuto comes in with a 19.84. The swimmer to watch, however, is Penn State junior Shane Ryan, who was the runner-up at last year’s conference meet in 19.36, and enters this year’s meet with a time of 20.21. But the Big Ten has a deep sprint class this year, and in a race like the 50 freestyle, there’s plenty of room for surprises!
3. 100 BREAST
Photo Courtesy: David Farr
Senior Richard Funk, the defending champ in the 100 breast, will look to defend his crown this weekend against a veteran field. Funk is the top seed with a time of 52.36. Teammate Ortiz comes in with the second-fastest time in the B1G this season (52.71), and Purdue senior Lyam Dias is third (52.81). Indiana junior Tanner Kurtz (53.38) has already been faster this season than he was at the conference meet in 2014, while Wisconsin senior Nick Schafer (53.65) isn’t far behind. Funk is the clear favorite in this race, but he’ll have his hands full against a talented group of experienced swimmers.
4. 100 BACK
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
The Big Ten boasts a skilled crop of backstrokers, and Friday’s event offers a great deal of potential excitement. The top seed is Iowa senior Grant Betulius, who popped a 45.56 to lead off his team’s 400 medley relay in December, and will have home-field advantage. But Penn State’s Shane Ryan, the defending conference champion and NCAA runner-up, comes in right on his heels (46.26).
Ryan’s fellow Nittany Lion, Nate Savoy, touched second at the Big Ten meet last year, and comes in seeded third in his final conference meet (46.46). Wisconsin’s Drew Teduits (47.56), the overwhelming favorite in Saturday’s 200 backstroke, will need a strong performance to challenge the leaders in the shorter distance.
5. 200 FLY
Photo Courtesy: Peter H. Bick
Dylan Bosch (cover photo), the Wolverine junior and current NCAA record-holder in this event, is the clear favorite in an event that he won last year. In 2014, Bosch had teammate Kyle Whitaker to contend with, but this year, he’ll have to keep an eye on Indiana senior Stephen Schmuhl — who will also give him a race in the 200 IM — and potentially Wisconsin’s Nick Caldwell. There’s no shortage of challengers, but this is a race you won’t want to miss because of Bosch’s ability to threaten his own record and turn in one of the all-time great short course 200 butterfly performances.
With so many stars and so many great races to come over the next four days, you won’t want to miss a minute of the Big Ten Championships! Be sure to check Championship Central for psych sheets and live results!