After five months of competition, Illinois headed to Madison, Wisconsin, to compete in the four-day Big Ten Championships.

“You could definitely see with a lot of the races the little pieces falling into place,” said head coach Sue Novitsky. “It’s always exciting to see those breakthroughs for a lot of our athletes.”

While the contest saw them place in 11th place out of 12 teams competing, the team continued to show improvements as a program, setting seven new top-10 times in program history in a variety of individual and relay events.

Here is a recap of each day: 

Day 1

Day 1 saw an easing into competition with only two events on the day: the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay.

In the 200-yard relay, the Illini landed a third-best time in program history behind the backs of juniors Athena Salafatinos and Divya Kale, senior Abby Cabush and freshman Molly Yetter.

The 800-yard freestyle relay saw Cabush, freshman Sydney Stoll and sophomores Cara Bognar and Laurel Bludgen set the fourth-best time in program history. 

While neither squad was close to winning their events, the momentum gained from shuffling the record board would carry on to the next few days.

Day 2

Day 2 saw the start of the individual events and where the freshman shined for the Illini.

The 500-yard freestyle saw three lifetime bests by sophomore Meghan Niziolek (5:02.12), junior Jeanri Buys (4:56.65) and senior Sidney Kennedy (4:56.22). There were also two college-best times set by freshmen Lia Munson (5:12.23) and Stoll (4:55.27).

In the 200-yard individual medley, senior Lauren Partridge (2:08.49) and freshman Jane Umhofer (2:03.85) set lifetime bests.

The 50-yard freestyle saw the most amount of record-book chaos this entire season with a total of four Illini swimmers setting a top-10 school record time.

Bludgen (23.16) placed seventh all-time, Cabush (23.07) placed fourth all-time, junior Isabelle Guerra (22.98) tied for third all-time and Yetter broke the school record with a time of 22.89, a record previously set in 2005 by Barbie Viney-Langley (‘07).

“It was fun to see that happen,” Novitsky said. “ Molly has learned a lot about Barbie this season. I told her, ‘Hey, you’re in a very good spot, and it’s what you do now that will help define your career and high you can continue to grow.’ She’s a tough kid.”

In each event, the Illini freshmen shined, taking the top performing spot for the team in the events, providing a preview to how good the team could be in years to come.

“It’s very exciting to see them step up and handle that moment, be able to enjoy it and still perform,” Novitsky said.

In the 1-meter dive, senior Taylor Shegos scored 256.65, coming up just short of qualifying for the finals.

No Illinois swimmers or divers went on to compete in the evening finals, but the energy from the record book reshuffling was enough to build on the already elevated atmosphere. 

“It takes a bit of time for the broken record or best time to set in,” Novitsky said. “They come in with expectations, even if they swam their fastest race ever.”

Day 3

In the second half of the four-day meet, the Illini capitalized, with five Illini swimmers qualifying for the finals in an individual event. 

In the 100-yard butterfly, freshman Logan Kuehne (56.71), juniors Lizzie Gile (57.22), Salafatinos (55.56) and Guerra (55.62) and senior Kaylee Heimes (56.78) all broke lifetime bests

Bognar (4:16.60) qualified for the B-finals in the 400-yard individual medley, while Cabush made it to the C-finals in the 200-yard freestyle.

Also in the 200-yard freestyle, sophomore Anna Kurzydlo (1:54.91) and Buys (1:52.37) had lifetime bests, while Munson (1:57.85) and Stoll (1:49.43) had college bests.

In the 100-yard breaststroke, Kale (1:03.05) qualified for the C-finals alongside Umhofer (1:03.35) and junior Kaleigh Haworth (1:03.12). Umhofer, Partridge (1:04.78) and Haworth all set lifetime bests at the event. 

Yetter, Guerra, Bludgen and Cabush set the second-best all-time record in school history (1:31.52), only 0.03 seconds shy of tying the school record in the 200-yard freestyle relay.

Bognar placed eighth in the 400-yard individual medley B-finals (4:20.99), Cabush placed seventh in the 200-yard freestyle C-finals (1:48.75) while Haworth (1:03.12), Umhofer (1:03.20), setting another lifetime best, and Kale (1:03.39) placed in fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively, in the C-finals for the 100-yard breaststroke.

Day 4

Their momentum continued to the final day of competition, which saw over two dozen more lifetime and college bests and three more Illini finalists.

The 200-yard backstroke saw college bests by Stoll (1:58.36) and Niziolek (1:59.36), while the 100-yard freestyle had a total of five lifetime bests by Gile (53.63), Buys (52.54), Guerra (51.15), Cabush (50.36) and Yetter (49.91), with a college best by Munson (54.67).

Junior Mariclaire Lynch (2:19.79), Umhofer, Haworth and Partridge all broke more lifetime bests. Umhofer and Haworth both would qualify for the C-finals, placing fifth and eighth, respectively, in the 200-yard butterfly. Bognar, who qualified for the C-finals, went on to place eighth (2:02.44).

The last individual event saw Bognar crack her lifetime best at (16:57.49), while Kennedy had a collegiate best of 17:01.71 in the 1,650-yard freestyle.

With the final event, Illinois swimming concluded their 2021-2022 season, placing 11th in the Big Ten Championship with 199 points.

“It’s hard to explain the mental and emotional challenge (of the Big Ten Championship),” Novitsky said. “There’s no room for forgiveness, but it’s a learning experience, not just for swimming but for life in general.”

@JonathanAlday7

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