Indiana University Athletics
Hoosiers Head to Minnesota
10/25/2005 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Oct. 25, 2005
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 9 Indiana swimming and diving team heads to Minneapolis, Minn., to take on defending conference champion No. 11 Minnesota on Oct. 29 at 1 p.m.
STEPPING UP THE SCHEDULE
Indiana head coach Ray Looze stepped up the schedule this season as the Hoosiers already faced defending national champion Auburn and will battle reigning Big Ten champion Minnesota in back-to-back meets to open the campaign. Overall, IU will compete against eight teams (#1 Auburn, #4 Michigan, #11 Minnesota, #13 Northwestern, #15 Purdue, #16 Kentucky, #20 Ohio State and #22 Wisconsin) ranked in the first CSCAA Dual Meet poll.
THE GREAT FESENKO
Sergiy Fesenko shot off the blocks in a big way to open the season. He continued to add to his trophy haul this season after earning the Big Ten Swimmer of the Week award, as announced by the conference office on Oct. 18. The Kiev, Ukraine, native already snared IU Athlete of the Week honors earlier in the day.
In a tightly-contested 174-126 loss against defending national champion Auburn, Fesenko dominated the distance events by winning both the 500-yard and 1,000-yard freestyle events. In the 1,000-yard freestyle, Fesenko torched the rest of the field by nearly three seconds by touching in 9:17.94. In the 500-yard freestyle, Fesenko turned on the jets in the final 50 yards to finish in 4:30.03 more than a second faster than any other swimmer.
MOVING ON UP
With a 48.52 clocking in the 100 back against Auburn, Ben Hesen moved into sixth on IU's fastest times list in the event.
NCAA PROVISIONALS
The following swimmers have posted NCAA provisional times:
| Hoosier | Event | Time |
| Ben Hesen | 100 back | 48.52 |
NCAA ZONE QUALIFIERS
Three divers have secured zone qualifying scores so far this season. Ryan Fagan, Brian Mariano and Taylor Roberts all punched their ticket to the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships March 10-12 in Columbus, Ohio.
BIG TIME MERGER
Over the summer, the men's and women's swimming and diving programs merged under head coach Ray Looze. The change will allow IU to tailor training to specific distances and strokes, while also gaining an assistant diving coach (Todd Waikel).
RE-WRITING HISTORY
IU's current crop of swimmers and divers has demolished the Hoosier record book. In sum, 24 out of Indiana's 62 possible standards have been set by current Hoosiers.
BAHAMAS HERE WE COME
Even though the Hoosiers will encounter intense training sessions during the holiday training trip, the surroundings of Nassau, Bahamas should assuage any discomfort during the Dec. 29-Jan. 5 excursion
DROUGHT COMING TO AN END?
Although the Hoosiers came up just three points shy of ending IU's Big Ten team title drought last season in an incredibly exciting finish against Minnesota, Indiana is in good shape to overcome the rest of the league in this season's conference championships.
Not only will the contest be held in the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center, the Hoosiers boast a 132-point advantage in points scored at the 2005 Big Ten Championships when taking into consideration graduating seniors.
IMPACT FRESHMAN
Heath Tameris provided a glimpse of the future to come when he swept the breaststroke events at the 2005 Junior National Championships in Irvine, Calif., over the summer.
SUMMER FUN
Over the summer, Colin Russell picked up a silver medal as a member of the 800 LCM freestyle relay for Canada at the 2005 FINA World Championships.
SUMMER FUN II
IU sent a loaded contingent to the World University Games in Izmir, Turkey. The complete list of Hoosiers that competed included Cassandra Cardinell, Marc Carlton, Susanna Ernst (Austria), Christina Loukas, Colin Russell (Canada) and Kevin Swander. Furthermore, Dr. Jeff Huber helped coach the U.S. divers at the games.
BEST FINISH SINCE 1991
Overall, the Hoosiers accumulated 76 total points to claim 16th place at the 2005 NCAA Championships in the University Aquatic Center in Minneapolis, Minn., the best finish since IU posted a 15th-place effort in 1991.
IT'S ALL ABOUT THE RELAYS
Indiana qualified for NCAAs in all five relays last season. The feat marked the first time in school history that IU qualified five relays. The meet first increased to five relays in 1989 when the 200 medley relay was added.
BIG TEN HONOREES
Indiana head diving coach Dr. Jeff Huber picked up both Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year honors last season.
Meanwhile, senior Kevin Swander earned first team All-Big Ten recognition and sophomore Ben Hesen, junior Lee Houchin, junior Brian Mariano and junior Colin Russell snared second team All-Big Ten certificates. Additionally, junior Scott Tanner was named the squad's sportsmanship honoree.
