Indiana University Athletics
No. 11 Hoosiers Play Host to 2006 Big Ten Championships
2/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving
Feb. 20, 2006
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BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 11 Indiana men's swimming and diving team plays host to the 2006 Big Ten Championships from Feb. 23-25 at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center in Bloomington, Ind.
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 at Minnesota, Indiana is a top contender at 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.
NCAA AUTOMATICS
The following swimmers have posted NCAA automatic times:
| Hoosier | Event | Time |
| Sergiy Fesenko | 500 free | 4:17.84 |
| Colin Russell | 200 free | 1:35.50 |
NCAA PROVISIONALS
The Hoosiers have posted the following NCAA provisional times:
| Hoosier | Event | Time |
| Alex Brunfeldt | 1,650 free | 15:23.43 |
| Sergiy Fesenko | 200 free | 1:37.91 |
| Sergiy Fesenko | 1,650 free | 15:06.39 |
| Ben Hesen | 100 back | 47.98 |
| J.K. Koehler | 1,650 free | 15:32.98 |
| Todd Patrick | 50 free | 20.24 |
| Todd Patrick | 100 free | 44.40 |
| Todd Patrick | 200 free | 1:37.86 |
| Todd Patrick | 200 IM | 1:49.12 |
| Colin Russell | 50 free | 20.03 |
| Kevin Swander | 100 breast | 55.05 |
| Steffan Troxel | 1,650 free | 15:30.38 |
| Relay | Event | Time |
| Indiana | 200 medley | 1:28.30 |
| Indiana | 400 medley | 3:15.82 |
NCAA ZONE QUALIFIERS
All six divers have secured zone qualifying scores so far this season. Ryan Fagan, David Legler, Brian Mariano, Justin Montrie, Jesse Rappaport and Taylor Roberts all punched their ticket to the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships March 10-12 in Columbus, Ohio.
TWO MORE RECORDS ECLIPSED
Sergiy Fesenko and Ben Hesen each broke school records during the Michigan meet. Fesenko surpassed his own 500-yard freestyle record, while Hesen eclipsed former IU standout Matt Leach's standard in the 100-yard backstroke.
DIVING DOMINANCE - FAGAN
Ryan Fagan eclipsed a 16-year-old school standard previously held by Olympic gold medalist Mark Lenzi. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native broke the standard in the event with an eye-popping 399.30. Lenzi set the previous record with a 397.65 in East Lansing, Mich., on Feb. 9, 1990. Fagan also became just the third Hoosier in history to surpass the 380-point plateau. Brian Bungum became the first Hoosier to accomplish the feat with a 380.10 at the Royer Pool in Bloomington, Ind., on Feb. 22, 1975.
200 FREE SCHOOL RECORD FALLS
Remarkably, Colin Russell turned in a stellar time of 1:35.50 to break his own school record in the 200-yard freestyle in a 161-139 victory over No. 17 Northwestern on Dec. 2.
BIG TEN OF THE WEEK SWEEP
Indiana swept the Big Ten weekly awards for the week ending Jan. 22. Not only did Ben Hesen share the Big Ten Swimmer of the Week title with Northwestern's Eric Nilsson, Ryan Fagan's record-setting performance garnered Big Ten Diver of the Week honors, as announced by the conference office on Jan. 24.
This is the first time that IU has swept the weekly conference accolades since Oct. 12, 2004 when Kevin Swander and former IU standout Marc Carlton earned the honors after nearly knocking off Texas.
FAGAN - BIG TEN DIVER OF THE WEEK
Ryan Fagan garnered Big Ten Diver of the Week honors for the week ending Jan. 8, as announced by the conference office on Jan. 10.
RUSSELL COMMONWEALTH BOUND
Over the Thanksgiving weekend, Colin Russell earned a spot on Canada's Commonwealth Games roster. The Commonwealth Games will be held in Sydney, Australia March 15-26, 2006.
BIG TIME MERGER
Over the summer, the men's and women's swimming and diving programs merged under head coach Ray Looze. The change allows IU to tailor training, while also gaining an assistant diving coach (Todd Waikel).
COACHING MILESTONES
With the women's swimming and diving team's 177-123 conquest over No. 14 Purdue on Jan. 21, Ray Looze reached 70 career wins.
THE GREAT FESENKO
Sergiy Fesenko shot off the blocks in a big way to start the year. He continued to add to his trophy haul this season after earning the Big Ten Swimmer of the Week award, as announced on Oct. 18.
BRING ON THE TROPHIES
Sergiy Fesenko earned his second Big Ten Swimmer of the Week accolade this season, as announced by the conference office on Nov. 1 for the week ending Oct. 30. He went on to earn CollegeSwimming.com's National Swimmer of the Week the next day.
SERGIY AT EUROPEAN SC MEET
Sergiy Fesenko snapped current junior Colin Russell's school-record in the 400-meter freestyle on Dec. 8 with an astounding fifth-place time of 3:40.92 in the final heat at the 2005 European Short Course Championship in Trieste, Italy.
RE-WRITING HISTORY
IU's current crop of swimmers and divers has demolished the Hoosier record book. In sum, 26 out of Indiana's 62 possible standards have been set by current Hoosiers.
TRAINING IN PARADISE
The Hoosiers enjoyed a productive winter training trip to Nassau, Bahamas on Dec. 29-Jan 5. During the excursion, the Hoosiers participated in a joint practice with Auburn and Michigan State.
RISING STAR
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.
THE 2006-07 CLASS
Indiana head coach Ray Looze and the Indiana University swimming and diving program announced the signing of eight student-athletes for the 2006-07 academic year. Kevin Happ (Hunting Valley, Ohio/University School), Christopher Head (Evansville, Ind./North), Tyler McGowan (Vincennes, Ind./Lincoln), Frazier Miller (Louisville, Ky./Saint Xavier), Chris Oleksiak (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove), Jensen Ried (Cypress, Texas/Cypress Springs) and Drew Sease (Indianapolis, Ind./North Central) will look to impact Indiana beginning with the 2006-07 campaign. Meanwhile, head diving coach Dr. Jeff Huber and the Indiana diving team announced the signing of David Piercy (Fort Wayne, Ind./Homestead) for the 2006-07 academic year.
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.
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 reigning Big Ten champion Minnesota in back-to-back meets to open the campaign. Overall, IU scheduled eight teams (No. 1 Auburn, No. 4 Michigan, No. 11 Minnesota, No. 13 Northwestern, No. 15 Purdue, No. 16 Kentucky, No. 20 Ohio State and No. 22 Wisconsin) ranked in the first CSCAA Dual Meet poll. Florida is the only other program battling eight ranked teams.
