Breaststroke Stuns as IU Lead Grows

Friday, February 28

Minneapolis, Minn.

6 p.m.

Indiana University

Big Ten Championships - Finals

3/1/2025 12:23:00 AM | Men's Swimming and Diving

Results (PDF)

MINNEAPOLIS – There is so much to say about No. 2-ranked Indiana's performance in the 100-yard breaststroke Friday (Feb. 28) night at the 2025 Big Ten Men's Swimming and Diving Championships inside the Jane K. Freeman Aquatic Center on the campus of the University of Minnesota.

Let's start with this: Indiana swimmers placed first, second, third, fourth and fifth in the 100 breast. The result was worth 138 points in the team race, which Indiana now leads by 282.5 points going into the final day.

Next: Senior Finn Brooks – who told the B1G+ plus crew that he doesn't regularly participate in IU's breaststroke practices – became the first swimmer to break the 50-second barrier in a Big Ten Championship meet. His 49.94 meet record makes him the second-fastest swimmer in program history and the second-fastest swimmer this season.

And lastly: prior to this meet, only three Hoosiers had ever swum the 100 breast under 51 seconds. Indiana doubled that number Friday night. Graduate transfer Brian Benzing (50.73) finished second, senior Josh Matheny placed third (50.94), graduate transfer Caspar Corbeau (50.97) was fourth and senior Jassen Yep (51.10) was fifth. The four best times came under the NCAA A standard.

The 100-yard breaststroke was Indiana's brightest highlight of a glistening third-day team performance. The Hoosiers won three Big Ten titles, set two meet records and captured nine medals Friday night.

Junior Owen McDonald won a Big Ten title for the second consecutive night, leading Indiana's one-two finish in the 100-yard backstroke – its eighth consecutive championship in the event. McDonald earned his NCAA A cut in 44.38 to win the event by 64 hundredths of a second. Freshman Miroslav Knedla dropped a personal best 45.02 to earn the silver medal. Senior Luke Barr's 45.10 missed the medal sweep by three hundredths as Northwestern sophomore Stuart Seymour touched right in front of him.

McDonald and Brooks represented the first two legs of Indiana's 10th consecutive – and 31st overall – championship in the 400-yard medley relay. Indiana became the first program to break the three-minute barrier at a Big Ten Championships, setting the meet record in 2:59.87. All four Hoosiers went the best time for their legs; McDonald led off in 44.74, and Brooks was the only breaststroke split under 51 seconds with a devastating 49.74. Senior Tomer Frankel followed with a 44.76, and junior Matt King anchored in 40.64 – the only split under 41 seconds. Indiana beat second-place Michigan by 2.9 seconds.

Brooks and Frankel both swam three times Friday. On top of the two titles, Brooks also took silver in the 100-yard butterfly with a personal best 44.59 to lead off his night. Frankel followed right behind, touching in 44.74, before also placing 11th in the 200 free with a time of 1:34.34.

"It was a super fun final session tonight," IU head swimming coach Ray Looze said. "Finn Brooks was amazing, Owen won his second event of the competition, and the 400 medley relay extended our winning streak to 10 years! Wow. One more big day left to go."

Senior Rafael Miroslaw captured his fourth-career medal in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:32.03. Miroslaw won the title as a freshman in 2022, took silver last season and is a two-time bronze medalist.

For the first time since the 2021 platform diving final, an Indiana Hoosier did not appear in the medals of Friday's diving event – the 3-meter springboard. Senior Quinn Henninger, Thursday's 1-meter champion, missed the bronze medal by six-tenths of a point with his score of 421.95. Classmate Carson Tyler, the 2024 3-meter champion, placed fourth with a 405.95, and junior Maxwell Weinrich took seventh on 338.65 points. Still, IU was the only program with three A finalists, who combined with one C finalist to contribute 75 points towards the team race.

"What a close contest," IU head diving coach Drew Johansen said. "Three in the 'A' final was a great showing for IU diving. We took some chances experimenting with new dives tonight that we are going to need at NCAA's. Carson, Max and Quinn all upped the difficulty to stay on pace with the world standard.

"Only five points separated the top four. The guys finished strong and had a chance to put up 90 or even 100 points on their final dives. We didn't quite get there today, but I know when they get another chance (NCAA's) they will be more prepared to deliver because of today's experience."

TEAM SCORES
1. Indiana – 1,067
2. Michigan – 784.5
3. Ohio State – 731
4. USC – 588
5. Minnesota – 512.5
6. Wisconsin – 498
7. Northwestern – 473
8. Purdue – 406.5
9. Penn State – 372.5

RESULTS
100 BUTTERFLY
2. Finn Brooks – 44.59 (Big Ten Silver, Career Best, NCAA B Cut)
3. Tomer Frankel – 44.74 (Big Ten Bronze, NCAA B Cut)

400 IM
7. Zalán Sárkány – 3:43.36 (NCAA B Cut)
9. Toby Barnett – 3:41.27 (Career Best, NCAA B Cut)

200 FREESTYLE
3. Rafael Miroslaw – 1:32.03 (Big Ten Bronze, NCAA B Cut)
7. Drew Smiley – 1:34.32 (NCAA B Cut)
11. Tomer Frankel – 1:34.34 (NCAA B Cut)

100 BREASTSTROKE
1. Finn Brooks – 49.94 (Big Ten Champion, Big Ten Championship Record, Career Best, NCAA A Cut)
2. Brian Benzing – 50.73 (Big Ten Silver, Career Best, NCAA A Cut)
3. Josh Matheny – 50.94 (Big Ten Bronze, Career Best, NCAA A Cut)
4. Caspar Corbeau – 50.97 (NCAA A Cut)
5. Jassen Yep – 51.10 (Career Best, NCAA A Cut)
X. Alexei Avakov – 52.44 (NCAA B Cut)

100 BACKSTROKE
1. Owen McDonald – 44.38 (Big Ten Champion, NCAA A Cut)
2. Miroslav Knedla – 45.02 (Big Ten Silver, Career Best, NCAA B Cut)
4. Luke Barr – 45.10 (NCAA B Cut)
13. Gavin Wight – 46.34 (NCAA B Cut)

3-METER
4. Quinn Henninger (NCAA Zone Qualifier)
5. Carson Tyler (NCAA Zone Qualifier)
6. Maxwell Weinrich (NCAA Zone Qualifier)
24. Joshua Sollenberger – 263.10

400 MEDLEY RELAY
1. Owen McDonald, Finn Brooks, Tomer Frankel, Matt King – 2:59.87 (Big Ten Champion, Big Ten Championship Record, NCAA A Cut)

UP NEXT
Indiana looks to shut the door on a fourth consecutive Big Ten Championship on Saturday, the final day of competition. Prelims begin at 11 a.m. ET, setting the stage for the 6 p.m. ET final session.

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