Indiana Sweeps Big Ten Swimmer of the Year Honors via Owen McDonald, Anna Peplowski
Indiana earned both Big Ten Swimmer of the Year honors via Owen McDonald on the men’s side and Anna Peplowski on the women’s.
Indiana also earned both divers of the year via Carson Tyler and Skyler Liu and coaches of the year on both the men’s and women’s side in swimming boss Ray Looze and diving skipper Drew Johansen, in awards announced on Thursday by the conference.
The other honors went to Ohio State, which earned Freshman of the Year via Matt Klinge on the men’s side and Mila Nikanorov on the women’s.
McDonald is the fourth consecutive Hoosier to win the men’s award. He finished third in the 200 individual medley at the NCAA Championships, one of six All-American honors. He set the Big Ten record in the 200 back at the Big Ten Championships as well as the meet record in the 200 IM.
Peplowski claimed the Hoosiers first women’s 200 free title at the NCAA Championships. She earned her fourth career NCAA medal by finishing third in the 500 free, and she won six medals at the Big Ten Championships, including the victory in the 500 free.
Tyler became the first diver in history to win three consecutive NCAA platform titles. He also repeated as the 3-meter champion and finishing ninth (with the second-highest score) on 1-meter. The five-time NCAA champion was named the CSCAA Male Diver of the Year for the second straight season.
Liu was the NCAA champion on women’s platform diving. She also finished third on 3-meter. She swept those two events at the Big Ten Championships for the second consecutive year.
Nikanorov finished sixth in the A final of the 500 free at NCAAs, setting the school record at 4:36.68. She also finished seventh in the 1,650 at NCAAs after finishing second in that event at the Big Ten Championships, leading the Buckeyes to the title.
Klinge won the 50 free at the Big Ten Championships. He made B finals at NCAAs in that event, as well as in two spring relays for the Buckeyes.
Looze led Indiana to third place at the NCAA Men’s Championships and fourth at the women’s meet. The men’s finish is the sixth top-five result in seven seasons, and the 17 Hoosiers that tallied 50 All-America honors tied the program record set in 1974.
Johansen helped the Indiana men sweep all three diving events at NCAAs, the first team to do that since 1997. It’s his third straight Big Ten diving coach of the year honor on the men’s side and second in four years on the women’s. He’s also the two-time reigning CSCAA Men’s Diving Coach of the Year.