For Illinois swimming and diving, last weekend’s Big Ten championships really weren’t about winning.

Going into the meet at Indiana, the Illini knew they were outmatched. With the Big Ten boasting some of the top athletes in the country, Illinois’ ninth-place finish was anything but a disappointment. In fact, the team considers the meet a huge success.

“We had probably, top to bottom, one of the best meets we could have had,” said head coach Sue Novitsky.

Illinois recorded 19 NCAA B-cuts, Novitsky said, and set 10 school records in the four-day competition. Seventeen swimmers recorded personal bests in Friday’s races alone.

Penn State dominated the competition with 693 points, and Indiana came in second with 497. The Illini finished with 203 points, ahead of Ohio State and Michigan State. But Novitsky said the low finish is a result of other teams swimming exceptionally well, not Illinois performing poorly.

“They all had solid performances. I think overall it was a very positive performance,” Novitsky said. “We can’t control what place we get because we can’t control what other teams are doing.”

The Illini raced 78 times during the meet, and Novitsky said less than 10 swims were not season-best times.

“They were ready, and they were capable of stepping up and swimming well each day,” she said. “You have to accept that tomorrow is not going to be easy and step up to the plate, and they did that.”

Some of Illinois’ best performances came from Meghan Bradley, Kirsten Koepcke and Barbie Viney. Top performances also came in unexpected places.

“I think one of the people who had a breakthrough meet was Amy Downing,” Novitsky said. “She’s been having a great year all season; it seemed like every time she stepped up on the blocks she came through.”

Illinois’ divers were also happy with how they finished, holding their own against Olympians and other nationally recognized athletes.

“At Big Tens the competition is so hard that they judge really hard,” said sophomore Jackie Bain. “Overall we were happy.”

Bain finished the 1m competition in 34th place with 200.5 points and freshman Abbey Bernardo came in 24th with 221.50 points. In the 3m, the Illini finished 32nd and 33rd.

“Abbey had one of the best 1m meets I’ve seen her have,” Bain said. “My 3m went really well. My goal was to have good takeoff on my dives, and I put most of them in.”

Hotel Fire not a factor

While the Illini were warming up for Friday’s competition, a small fire broke out in one of the team’s hotel rooms. A heater malfunctioned, Novitsky said, causing extensive smoke damage to the room. No one was injured in the fire but the whole floor had to be evacuated, Novitsky said.

The athletes were not phased by the event, however, and continued with competition as scheduled.

Divers inspired by top competition

Diving coach Billy McGowan said his team was not phased by the level of competition at the Big Ten meet – a good sign, given some of the best divers in the country were at the competition.

“They were up against incredible, unbelievable, ridiculous competition,” McGowan said. “Four national qualifiers didn’t make the finals; it’s crazy how good the competition was.”

McGowan said the most impressive performances came from host Indiana, which included Olympian Cassandra Cardinell.

“They’re like the New York Yankees of diving,” he said. “They’re a lot of fun to watch.”

Bain said while it’s tough going up against world-class talent, knowing how good they are took off some of her pressure to perform.

“I think it kind of relaxes me a little more because I know these are the future Olympians,” Bain said. “At Big Tens, I compete against myself.”