Brendan Burns Dominates as Indiana Men Top Louisville; Cardinal Women Beat Hoosiers

Indiana's Brendan Burns -- Photo Courtesy: NCAA Media

Brendan Burns Dominates as Indiana Men Top Louisville; Cardinal Women Beat Hoosiers

A handful of college dual meets were called off again this weekend as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect the United States, but Indiana University’s home meet against Louisville went off as scheduled. The Hoosier men, ranked No. 5 in the latest CSCAA dual meet poll, crushed Louisville by a 205-95 margin, while Louisville’s women took down Indiana, 182-118.

The top performer of the meet was Indiana junior Brendan Burns, who put up impressive times on his way to victories in the 200 butterfly (1:40.72), 200 backstroke (1:41.18) and 100 butterfly (45.49). IU’s Josh Matheny swept the 100 (53.41) and 200 breaststroke (1:57.06), while U.S. Olympian Michael Brinegar placed first in the 1000 free (8:51.20).

On the women’s side, Louisville won behind a trio of double winners. Liberty Williams dominated both the 1000 free (9:33.23) and 500 free (4:40.10), while Abby Hay placed first in the 200 fly (1:55.87) and 400 IM (4:12.37). Gabi Albiero picked up triumphs in the 50 free (22.25) and 100 fly (51.63).

Check out full results from the meet here, and read the full press release from Indiana below:

Fifth-ranked Indiana men’s swimming and diving team continues to roll into the new year as it defeated No. 11 Louisville, 205-95, Friday (January 14) inside Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.

The Hoosier men improved its season dual meet record to 7-0 while earning its 13th straight dual meet victory, a streak that goes back to 2019.

“I thought our men took care of business against a good team,” head swimming coach Ray Looze said. “Across the board, I was proud of them.”

Indiana diving was fantastic again as the men’s and women’s teams combined for four wins in the 1-meter and 3-meter dives. Senior Kristen Hayden won both events on the women’s side, and freshman Carson Tyler duplicated that for the men.

“It was a great start to the new year for the Hoosier divers,” head diving coach Drew Johansen said. “The whole team was happy to be back competing. The work they did in our training camp over break is starting to pay off.”

Missing a handful of athletes, the women’s team fell to the 15th-ranked Cardinals, 182-118, dropping to 5-2 on the season.

Diving provided a bright spot for the women’s team, as Hoosiers filled the top five placements in the 3-meter dive and four of the top five spots in the 1-meter.

“We just have to tip our hat to the Cardinals,” Looze said. “They were the better team, and we didn’t have the answers in enough events to make it a competitive meet. We’ll go back to the drawing board, and our goal is to be much sharper against Purdue in a week. It’s nice to have another meet to jump right into.

TEAM SCORES
Men
No. 5 Indiana 205, No. 11 Louisville 95

Women
No. 15 Louisville 182, No. 10 Indiana 118

HOOSIER WINNERS
Men
Bruno Blaskovic – 200 Medley Relay (1:24.70), 400 Freestyle Relay (2:51.06)
Michael Brinegar – 1000 Freestyle (8:51.20)
Brendan Burns – 200 Butterfly (1:40.72), 200 Backstroke (1:41.18), 100 Butterfly (45.49)
Mikey Calvillo – 500 Freestyle (4:20.30)
Gabriel Fantoni – 200 Medley Relay (1:24.70), 100 Backstroke (47.27)
Tomer Frankel – 200 Medley Relay (1:24.70), 400 Freestyle Relay (2:51.06)
Josh Matheny – 100 Breaststroke (53.41), 200 Breaststroke (1:57.06)
Van Mathias – 200 Medley Relay (1:24.70), 400 Freestyle Relay (2:51.06)
Rafael Miroslaw – 200 Freestyle (1:33.39), 100 Freestyle (43.10), 400 Freestyle Relay (2:51.06)
Carson Tyler – 1-meter dive (411.83), 3-meter dive (387.60)

Women
Kristen Hayden – 3-meter dive (362.10), 1-meter dive (319.50)
Anna Peplowski – 200 Backstroke (1:54.19)
Noelle Peplowski – 100 Breaststroke (59.75)
Ella Ristic – 200 Freestyle (1:45.66)

NOTABLES

Redshirt junior Michael Brinegar swum the 1000 Freestyle in 8:51.20 to win the race and set a season-best time. It was just short of his career-best 8:51.13, set on March 6, 2021, but marks the second-best time in program history.
Junior Brendan Burns and freshman Rafael Miroslaw each collected three wins for the men. Burns swept the butterfly events and captured the 200 backstroke, while Miroslaw won the 100 and 200 freestyle races and was part of winning 400 freestyle relay team.
Senior Kristen Hayden and sophomore Tarrin Gilliland finished first and second, respectively, in both women’s diving events. Freshmen Carson Tyler and Quinn Henninger did the same for the men’s team.
In the men’s 200-yard breaststroke, Indiana’s trio of freshman Josh Matheny (1:57.06), sophomore Jassen Yep (1:57.16) and sophomore Maxwell Reich (1:57.35) took the first three spots, all earning NCAA B cuts in the process.
Freshmen Ching Hwee Gan and Dominika Kossakowska each made their Hoosier debuts Friday. Gan tallied an NCAA B cut in the 400 IM with a 4:15.95 while finishing third.

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