Winter Break Training Meets Highlight Big Ten Storylines

Photo Courtesy: Andy Ringgold

A few of the Big Ten teams will be in action this coming weekend in Winter Break invitationals. Purdue, Illinois and the Michigan women will be competing in various duel meets and invitationals in the middle of their training trips. Here are some story lines to look out for this weekend and for the fast approaching Big Ten Championships.

Michigan is having a very successful season led by senior Ali DeLoof and sophomores Clara Smiddy and Gillian Ryan. Although those three swimmers have answered expectations, it has been freshman Siobhan Haughey who has answered the call. Although she did not swim in a short course mid-season rest meet, her converted times from AT&T Winter Nationals put her atop the conference in the 100, 200 free and 200 IM. With Haughey’s presence, the Wolverines are favorites to win a championship in their home pool in February. They will look to continue their momentum this weekend at the Orange Bowl Classic in Miami.
The other championship hosts are the Purdue Boilermakers on the men’s side. Sophomore Marat Amaltdinov is their headline swimmer as he is currently second in the conference in the 200 breast and third in the 100 breast. The Boilers also boast the third best 200 free relay team in the conference and could possibly walk away with that title but it is a crowded field. The Boilers will be competing in the FIU Sprint Invitational in Miami with a vast array of other teams training in the area.
Illinois has been off to a quite season as compared to their conference compatriots. Gabrielle Stecker has been their headline swimmer as she sits 13th in the conference in the 500. Ashley Aegerter and Jennifer Coady have both achieved B-cuts in the 200 breast sitting at 15th and 17th in the conference respectively. Senior Lori Lynn is 17th in the 100 fly as she is just outside the B cut in that event. The Illini will be in action on Monday in California.

B1G Schedule

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Justin Karpinos

8 years ago

Maybe it’s just the angle, but this breaststroke pull looks pretty illegal to me.