The Indiana University swimming and diving program has announced its schedule for the 2014-15 season, highlighted by a home meet with Auburn.
"As has been our practice in past years, IU swimming and diving will again challenge itself against some of the very best programs in the NCAA as we continue to strive for a national championship," said head coach Ray Looze.
The Hoosiers open the schedule with the Tigers on Oct. 10 in Bloomington. Auburn’s men have won eight NCAA Championships, most recently in 2009, while the women have five titles with the last coming in 2007. Auburn’s men were sixth at this past season’s NCAA meet, with the Auburn women placing 14th, two spots behind the Hoosiers.
A challenging schedule continues on Oct. 24-25 as its annual meeting with Michigan and Texas takes places in Ann Arbor, Mich., this time with the addition of the Louisville Cardinals. The four-team meet is always one of the highlights of the dual meet season. Texas’ men placed second at last year’s NCAA Championships, with Michigan fourth and Louisville 11th, one spot behind the 10th-place Hoosiers. On the women’s side, Texas was ninth at the NCAA meet, with Louisville 15th and Michigan 30th.
Fall’s dual meet schedule concludes with Tennessee and Kentucky on Oct. 31 in Knoxville, Tenn. Both Tennessee (seventh) and Kentucky (23rd) were top-25 finishers at last year’s NCAA meet on the women’s side. Tennessee’s men were 15th, with Kentucky 37th.
The Hoosiers will send a contingent to the AT&T USA Swimming Winter Nationals Dec. 4-6 in Greensboro, N.C., while also playing host to the Hoosierland Invitational (Dec. 5-7). Indiana Head Diving Coach Drew Johansen will take his group to the USA Diving National Championships, Dec. 16-21 in Columbus, Ohio.
The 2015 portion of the schedule kicks off with a three-team dual meet in Madison, Wis. against the host Badgers and Notre Dame on Jan. 16 and 17.
Both the men and women travel to Purdue on Jan. 24 in what will serve as Senior Day for all for programs. The Indiana men have won four-straight in the series with the Boilermakers and lead the series overall 29-6. The women are 20-10 overall vs. Purdue with victories in 12 of the last 13 meetings. In 2014 the men were 186-114 winners, while the women took a 154.5-135.5 victory.
On Jan. 30 the Louisville and IU women will square off in Bloomington, while the men will go the split squad route. Part of the team will face Louisville and Evansville in Bloomington on Jan. 30, while others will face Louisville and Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio on Jan. 31.
Indiana will get one last look at the Cardinals on Feb. 14-15 as both the men and women will travel to the Louisville Invite in Kentucky.
The 2015 Big Ten Championships for the women will take place Feb. 18-21 in Columbus, Ohio. The Hoosiers have posted three-straight second-place finishes at the conference championship and return Big Ten Champions in Brooklynn Snodgrass (100 back, 200 back, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay) and Gia Dalesandro (200 butterfly, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay).
The men’s Big Ten Championships are set for Feb. 25-28 in Iowa City, Iowa. The Hoosier men finished second at last year’s meet but will have to replace Big Ten championship performances from graduated seniors Cody Miller (200 breaststroke), Eric Ress (200 backstroke), Darian Schmidt (1M, 3M) and Conor Murphy (platform).
Johansen will take the Hoosiers to the 2014 NCAA Zone C Diving Championships, March 12-14 in Columbus, Ohio with the hopes of qualifying for the NCAA Championships. Last year Indiana sent a total of three divers to the NCAA meets.
The 2015 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships for women takes place March 19-21 in Greensboro, N.C. The Indiana women look to improve upon last year’s 12th-place finish and return the reigning NCAA Champion in the 200 backstroke in Snodgrass. The men’s NCAA meet stays in Big Ten country as Iowa plays host to the event March 26-28 in Iowa City. Last year’s Hoosier squad finished 10th for its third-straight top-10 finish.
