Courtesy: Ohio State Athletics
COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Ohio State swimming and diving team opens the 2021-22 season at home this weekend, Friday, Oct. 29 and Saturday, Oct. 30, with a two-day double dual against Indiana, Penn State (men only) and Virginia Tech. Competition begins Friday at 5 p.m. at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion and continues Saturday at 10 a.m.
Admission to all Ohio State swim and dive events is free. Both days of competition will be streamed on B1G+ (additional subscription required).
Meet Schedule
The meet will follow normal dual meet scoring. Nine events will be contested on Friday and 10 on Saturday.
| Friday, Oct. 29 – 5 p.m. | Saturday, Oct. 30 – 10 a.m. |
| 200 Free Relay | 200 Medley Relay |
| 10-minute break | 10-minute break |
| 200 IM | 400 IM |
| 500 Free | 200 Free |
| 100 Breast | 100 Fly |
| 200 Back | 200 Breast |
| 100 Free | 100 Back |
| 200 Fly | 50 Free |
| 3m Diving | 1,000 Free |
| 15–20-minute break | 1m Diving |
| 400 Medley Relay | 15–20-minute break |
| 400 Free Relay |
Men’s Team Notes
- Ohio State returns 11 student-athletes who competed at the 2021 NCAA Championships. Among those returning NCAA qualifiers, 10 earned All-America honors.
- 2020 Tokyo Olympians Hunter Armstrong and Ruslan Gaziev highlight those returning to the Buckeye roster this season. Armstrong helped the Team USA 4×100 Medley Relay to a gold medal at the summer games, while Gaziev helped the Canadian 4×100 Free Relay to a fourth-place finish in Tokyo.
- In addition to Armstrong and Gaziev, Ohio State returns short course school record holders in Sem Andreis, Charlie Clark and Hudson McDaniel. Andreis is the reigning 100 Free Big Ten Champion and earned All-America honors in the Medley Relay and 400 Free Relay last season. Clark earned All-America honors in the 1650 Free and McDaniel is a 2021 All-American in the 200 Medley Relay and 100 Breast.
- The diving squad features four All-Americans in Joey Canova, Jacob Fielding, Jacob Siler and Lyle Yost. Canova finished first in the 1-meter dive at the 2021 Big Ten Championships.
- Newcomers to the Buckeye roster include Daniel Baltes, Will Bansberg, Josh Bogniard, Clay Chaplin, Michael Cooper, Fabio Dalu, Karl Helmuth, Tim Kalin, Mike Parker, Luke Paxton and Alex Quach.
Women’s Team Notes
- The Buckeye women’s squad features nine returning All-Americans, including Katherine Zenick who leads the returners with four 2021 All-America honors (200 and 400 Medley Relay, 200 and 400 Freestyle Relay).
- Returners Hannah Bach, Emily Crane, Amy Fulmer, Kristen Romano, Katie Trace and Zenick set Ohio State short course school records last season. Romano currently holds school records in five events, including the 200 Free (2019), 200 Back (2017), 200 IM, 400 Free Relay (2021) and 800 Free Relay (2019).
- The diving team returns Jackie Brenn, Ciara McGing and 2021 All-American Mackenzie Crawford.
- Ohio State, coming off its second consecutive Big Ten title, earned six event wins at the 2021 conference championship. Crane, Bach and Zenick return as members of the Big Ten title-winning 200 Medley Relay team. Romano earned titles in the 200 and 400 IM while Sally Tafuto won the 500 Free. Bach picked up her second conference title of the year in the 100 breast and Zenick and Crane earned another win in the 200 Free Relay. Fulmer also picked up a title as a member of the 200 Free Relay team.
- Newcomers to the Ohio State roster include Reese Dehen, Mackenzie Dewitt, Allie Fenska, Nyah Funderburke, Alyssa Graves, Paige Hall, Teresa Ivan, Lena Morgan, Mairin O’Brien, Claire Pophal, Mia Rankin, Malia Rausch and Gwen Woodbury.
Buckeyes Ranked Top 15
The Buckeyes earned top 15 preseason rankings in the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Division I preseason poll announced ahead of the season. The women are ranked 10th with 243 points and the men earned a No. 11 rating with 226 points.
2020-21 Year in Review
Despite a shortened season, the Buckeyes saw no shortage of success during the 2020-21 season. The women won their second consecutive Big Ten Title and the men finished third, combining for nine event titles at the conference championships. Both teams went on to earn seventh place finishes at the 2021 NCAA Championships, a program-high finish for the women and the best back-to-back finish for the men since 1965. Following the NCAA season, 12 Buckeyes competed at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials.
Success Outside the Pool
The 2020-21 Buckeyes excelled in the classroom, earning over 90 academic awards on the year. Twenty-one student-athletes earned Big Ten Distinguished Scholar awards, 47 were named Academic All-Big Ten for maintaining over a 3.00 GPA and 26 garnered CSCAA Scholar All-American Honors. Among those earning academic awards, Joseph Canova, Jay Johnson and Lyle Yost return to the Buckeye roster having earned a perfect 4.00 GPA last academic year.
Armstrong and Clark Named to National Team Roster
Hunter Armstrong and Charlie Clark have been named to the United States 2021-22 National Men’s Team roster. Armstrong made the roster in the 100 Back, as he swam the second fastest time (52.48) of the six swimmers for that event. Clark raced the third-best time (15:04.37) among the contingent of swimmers on the roster for the 1500 Free at the 2021 Speedo Summer Championships. The two Buckeye swimmers will swim on their first U.S. National Team this year, joining a field of 34 total newcomers to the roster. Ohio State is one of 32 universities represented on this year’s roster.