Noelle and Anna Peplowski Combine to Win Five Events at Indiana Intrasquad

Indiana Cream & Crimson Intrasquad

• Saturday, October 1, 2022
• Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center, Bloomington, IN
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results

TEAM SCORES

WOMEN

1. Cream – 142
2. Crimson – 114

MEN

1. Cream – 139
2. Crimson – 122

Indiana University hosted an intrasquad meet over the weekend, seeing Cream down Crimson in the men’s and women’s meets. Of course, the biggest news coming out of the weekend is that Olympic Champion Ahmed Hafnaoui, who is a freshman at IU, has been ruled a partial qualifier, which makes him ineligible to compete this season. A partial qualifier is a designation for someone who enters their first year of college not having satisfied the NCAA’s requirements for Core Class GPA and ACT/SAT scores. The designation means that Hafnaoui is able to practice with the team and receive a scholarship, but won’t be eligible to compete in NCAA meets until next season (2023-2024).

Men’s Recap

Hafnaoui won the 500 free and 1650 free this past weekend, swimming a 4:25.57 in the 500 and 15:20.68 in the mile. Notably, Hafnaoui is still adjusting to racing yards for the first time in his career. Hafnaoui also finished third in the 200 free with a 1:38.54. The way he swam the 200 was impressive, splitting 23.07 on the first 50, then clocking splits of 25.31, 25.13, and 25.03 on the final three 50s.

It was sophomore Rafael Miroslaw who won the men’s 200 free, clocking a 1:36.78. Miroslaw was also very consistent in his splitting, clocking splits of 24.83, 24.46, and 24.58 on his final three 50s.

Notably, star breaststroker Josh Matheny, a sophomore, only competed in one event at the intrasquad, swimming the breaststroke leg of the Cream ‘A’ 200 medley relay. He split 25.24 on his leg, which was the slowest breaststroke leg in the field.

Jassen Yep had a good day, posting the fastest breaststroke split in the field on the 200 medley relay. Yep was 24.42 on the leg. He then went on to win the men’s 100 breast in 54.52, as well as the 200 breast, where he swam a 1:59.32.

After an explosive junior season Brendan Burns picked up two wins on the day, though his times weren’t his fastest. Burns first won the men’s 100 back, where he clocked a 48.53. The reigning NCAA champion in the 200 fly then went on to win the men’s 200 fly in 1:48.94. He also took second in the 100 fly, swimming a 47.61. It was IU pro Marius Kusch who won the 100 fly, swimming a 47.42.

Women’s Recap

The Peplowski sisters were competing on different teams, but the pair won a combined five individual events at the meet. Noelle Peplowski, a fifth year who was on Team Crimson, was a triple event winner on the day. She first won the women’s 100 breast, swimming a 1:00.99 to beat out Lilly King, who touched second in 1:01.77. The older Peplowski sister then went on to win the women’s 200 breast in 2:12.81, touching first by over three seconds. She capped off her day with a win in the 100 IM, swimming a 56.34.

Anna Peplowski, a sophomore who was representing Cream, took the women’s 200 free and 200 back. She won the 200 free convincingly, swimming a 1:48.06 to finish first by three seconds. Anna was out to a roaring start, flipping at the 100-yard turn in 52.32, which put her in the lead by two seconds at the halfway mark. The younger Peplowski sister then clocked a 1:58.96 to win the women’s 200 back, touching as the only swimmer under 2:00. Interestingly, it was distance freestyler and open water freestyler Mariah Denigan who took second in the 200 back, swimming a 2:00.15.

Denigan swept the women’s distance events, first swimming a 16:40.86 to win the mile. Fellow distance star Ching Hwee Gan took second, posting a 16:52.36. In the 500 free, it was a tight race between Denigan and Gan, with Denigan ultimately getting her hand on the wall first. Gan established the early lead, flipping at the 250 in 2:25.98, while Denigan was back at 2:27.48 at the halfway point. Denigan began closing the gap, pulling even with Gan on the second-to-last 50, then managed to touch her out at the finish, posting a 4:51.36 to Gan’s 4:51.63. Notably, both swimmers negative split their races, with Denigan going 2:27.48/2:23.88 and Gan 2:25.98/2:25.65.

Kristina Paegle, a freshman, had a solid swim in the women’s 100 free, posting a 50.53. A great 200 freestyler as well, Paegle was a bit off in the event on Saturday, swimming a 1:53.77 to finish fourth. She then went on to win the 50 free, swimming a 23.21.