Hoosiers Hammer in Nine Friday Finalists

INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana placed six Hoosiers in championship finals and three more in consolation heats from preliminary heats Friday (March 29) morning at the 2024 NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships inside the IU Natatorium.

IU also enters the No. 5-seeded 400-yard medley relay, an event which the Hoosiers have earned silver in each of the last two seasons. Friday night finals begin at 6 p.m. ET.

Following a 2-3 finish in the 1-meter springboard final Thursday, juniors Quinn Henninger and Carson Tyler handled business in the 3-meter prelim to reach Friday's diving championship. Henninger was No. 2 in the prelim with a score of 426.25, right in front of Tyler's 425.60. Stanford's Jack Ryan was the leading scorer in the afternoon with a 432.90. IU's duo finished third and fourth on the podium in 2023 behind now-graduated Hoosier Andrew Capobianco's third-career 3-meter championship.

Diving earned a third finalist in the consolation via sophomore Maxwell Weinrich, who is set to compete in his first-career NCAA final Friday night. The 3-meter B final is set to begin to at 5:15 p.m.

Indiana swimming was projected to send two A finalists and four B finalists to Friday night based on incoming seeds but flipped that script in the morning, earning four in championship heats and two in consolations.

Senior Tomer Frankel improved his own program record and became the first-ever Hoosier to break the 44-second barrier in the 100-yard butterfly – as well as the second athlete nationally this season – with a 43.90. Frankel's previous best, a 44.04, earned bronze at last season's NCAA meet. He came into this year's as the No. 6 seed and advances to the championship final as the No. 2 qualifier. Junior Finn Brooks took the final B final spot with a 44.99.

Junior Rafael Miroslaw continued his week of drops with another in the 200-yard freestyle. Miroslaw ranked No. 15 in the country with a 1:32.03 but trimmed over a second off his time to finish in 1:30.99 and earn an A final bid. The time marks Miroslaw's quickest non-relay 200 free – the junior was 1:30.76 to lead off the 800 freestyle relay on Wednesday, IU's first 200 free under 1:31 since Zach Apple in 2019.

Seeding projected IU to have just one athlete in the 100-yard breaststroke B final – instead, the Hoosiers advanced one A finalist and one B finalist. Junior Josh Matheny dropped 42 hundredths of a second off his entry time to jump from the No. 24 seed to the No. 8 seed with a time of 51.27, earning his first NCAA championship final in the event. Senior Jassen Yep added 23 hundredths but actually finished better than his seed, moving from No. 17 to No. 14 to reach the evening consolation heat.

Reigning NCAA 100-yard backstroke champion and senior Brendan Burns returns to the championship final Friday night for the fourth time in four years. He finished sixth as a freshman and runner-up in 2022 before rising to the top last season. Burns was 44.51 to finish seventh in the morning but has been as fast as 43.61, which was his winning time in 2023. The top qualifying time Friday was 44.00. With his Friday mark, Burns owns the eight best time in program history.

RESULTS (Prelims)
400 IM
18. Toby Barnett – 3:41.37 (Second Alternate)

100 BUTTERFLY
2. Tomer Frankel – 43.90 (Championship Final, All-America, Program Record, Career Best)
16. Finn Brooks – 44.99 (Consolation Final, Second-Team All-America)

200 FREESTYLE
6. Rafael Miroslaw – 1:30.99 (Championship Final, All-America, Career Best)

100 BREASTSTROKE
8. Josh Matheny – 51.27 (Championship Final, All-America)
14. Jassen Yep – 51.72 (Consolation Final, Second-Team All-America)
29. Maxwell Reich – 51.87
32. Finn Brooks – 52.75

100 BACKSTROKE
7. Brendan Burns – 44.51 (Championship Final, All-America)
27. Luke Barr – 45.79
33. Kai van Westering – 46.18

3-METER
2. Quinn Henninger – 426.25 (Championship Final, All-America)
3. Carson Tyler – 425.60 (Championship Final, All-America)
13. Maxwell Weinrich – 359.55 (Consolation Final, Second-Team All-America)

HOOSIER ALL-AMERICANS
Luke Barr (200 IM*)
Finn Brooks (200 medley relay, 100 butterfly*)
Brendan Burns (200 medley relay, 800 freestyle relay, 100 backstroke)
Tomer Frankel (200 medley relay, 800 freestyle relay, 200 freestyle relay*, 100 butterfly)
Quinn Henninger (1-meter, 3-meter)
Mikkel Lee (200 medley relay, 200 freestyle relay*)
Josh Matheny (100 breaststroke)
Rafael Miroslaw (800 freestyle relay, 500 freestyle*, 200 freestyle relay*, 200 freestyle)
Carson Tyler (1-meter, 3-meter)
Kai van Westering (800 freestyle relay)
Maxwell Weinrich (3-meter*)
Gavin Wight (200 freestyle relay*)
Jassen Yep (100 breaststroke*)

* - Denotes second-team All-America

UP NEXT
Indiana will look to take advantage of its finalists in Friday's scoring session, set to start at 6 p.m. ET.

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Indiana University Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Toby Barnett

Luke Barr

Finn Brooks

Brendan Burns

Andrew Capobianco

Tomer Frankel

Quinn Henninger

Mikkel Lee

Josh Matheny

Rafael Miroslaw

Maxwell Reich

Carson Tyler

Kai van Westering

Maxwell Weinrich

Gavin Wight

Jassen Yep

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