No. 2/5 Hoosiers Dominate Inaugural CSL Match

Thursday, September 24

6:30 p.m.

Indiana University

College Swimming League

9/24/2026 10:53:00 PM | Men's Swimming and Diving, Women's Swimming and Diving

WESTMONT, Ill. – No. 2/5 opened the College Swimming League era with a statement performance, outscoring No. 12/8 Louisville, No. 8/6 Michigan and No. 13/11 Ohio State in the tournament's inaugural match Thursday (Sept. 24) night inside the FMC Natatorium.

The Hoosier men and women combined to win 16 of 30 events and totaled 575.5 points, 124 points better than second-place Louisville (451.5). Michigan came third (420.5), followed by Ohio State (250.5). Seven different Hoosiers won events in their CSL debuts, and IU's superstar second-years Alex Shackell and Liberty Clark led the team with three wins apiece.

The Hoosier women flexed their toughness and endurance, winning both skins events – an elimination-style sprint competition in which athletes race back-to-back rounds until two athletes/teams remain for a final head-to-head showdown. Shackell won the individual skins competition, outlasting her opponents through four rounds of 50-yard butterfly and going times of 23.44, 23.63, 23.57 and 23.22 in her races. She then swam four fly splits of the 200-yard medley "super skins," as she, Miranda Grana, Anita Bottazzo and Kristina Paegle won the final event of the night.

Shackell also swept the individual butterfly events, rounding out a perfect meet.

Clark swept the freestyle events, dropping times of 21.65 in the 50 free, 46.60 in the 100 free and 1:43.21 in the 200 free. With her 100-yard freestyle time, the second-year swimmer now owns the top 10 performances in program history.

Raekwon Noel and Miranda Grana worked together to sweep the backstroke events. Grana won the College Swimming League's first race with a 1:49.85 in the 200-yard backstroke. She won the 100 back at the touch, out-splitting Michigan's Lexi Greenhawt in the last 50 yards.

The 2026 Big Ten Swimmer of the Year, Josh Bey, captured wins in the 200-yard breaststroke and 200 IM. Alexei Avakov made it a men's breaststroke sweep with his victory in the 100-yard event, and transfer Anita Bottazzo got her first win as a Hoosier in the women's 100 breast.

UP NEXT
Indiana will swim its Cream and Crimson exhibition meet on October 2 before hosting Texas and Northwestern October 9 in its first true dual meet(s) of the 2026-27 season. The Hoosiers return to CSL action October 16 in Match 5 of the series, where they'll face Cal, NC State and Stanford.

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