2025 College Swimming Previews: Loaded #4 Indiana Men Ready To Make A Run At The Title

By Spencer Penland on SwimSwam

It’s that time of the year again. SwimSwam will be previewing the top 12 men’s and women’s teams (and then some) from the 2024 NCAA Championships. Follow along with the College Swimming Preview Channel. Want to read even more? Check out the latest edition of the SwimSwam magazine. 

#4 INDIANA HOOSIERS

Key Losses: Brendan Burns (43 NCAA Points), Max Reich (5 NCAA Points), Tristan DeWitt (NCAA Qualifier), Armando Vegas (NCAA Qualifier)

Key Additions: Owen McDonald (ASU Transfer – 46 NCAA Points, back/IM), Zalan Sarkany (ASU Transfer – 25 NCAA Points, distance free, IM), Brian Benzing (Towson Transfer – breaststroke), Matt King (UVA Transfer – sprint free), Miroslav Knedla (Czech Republic – backstroke), #20 Cooper McDonald (GA – free/back/IM)

Returning Fifth-Years: Tomer Frankel (32 NCAA Points), Jassen Yep (17 NCAA Points), Gavin Wight (NCAA Relay Swimmer)

GRADING CRITERIA

Over the years, we’ve gone back and forth on how to project points, ranging from largely subjective rankings to more data-based grading criteria based on ‘projected returning points.’ We like being as objective as possible, but we’re going to stick with the approach we’ve adopted post-Covid. The “stars” will rely heavily on what swimmers actually did last year, but we’ll also give credit to returning swimmers or freshmen who have posted times that would have scored last year.

Since we only profile the top 12 teams in this format, our grades are designed with that range in mind. In the grand scheme of college swimming and compared to all other college programs, top 12 NCAA programs would pretty much all grade well across the board. But in the interest of making these previews informative, our grading scale is tough – designed to show the tiers between the good stroke groups, the great ones, and the 2015 Texas fly group types.

• 5 star (★★★★★) – a rare, elite NCAA group projected to score 25+ points per event
• 4 star (★★★★) – a very, very good NCAA group projected to score 15-24 points per event
• 3 star (★★★) – a good NCAA group projected to score 5-14 points per event
• 2 star (★★) – a solid NCAA group projected to score 1-4 points per event
• 1 star (★) –  an NCAA group that is projected to score no points per event, though that doesn’t mean it’s without potential scorers – they’ll just need to leapfrog some swimmers ahead of them to do it

We’ll grade each event discipline: sprint free (which we define to include all the relay-distance freestyle events, so 50, 100 and 200), distance free, IM, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and diving. Use these grades as a jumping-off point for discussion, rather than a reason to be angry.

Also, keep in mind that we are publishing many of these previews before teams have posted finalized rosters. We’re making our assessments based on the best information we have available at the time of publication, but we reserve the right to make changes after publication based on any new information that may emerge regarding rosters. If that does happen, we’ll make certain to note the change.

2023-2024 LOOKBACK

The Indiana Hoosiers had another successful season last year, winning their third-straight Big Ten Conference title and going on to take 4th at NCAAs, their third-straight top-five finish.

In his final season with the Hoosiers, Brendan Burns came up huge, winning the NCAA title in the 100 back and scoring a total of 43 points. IU’s NCAAs were also highlighted by junior Carson Tyler, who won titles in 3-meter and platform diving, while fellow junior Quinn Henninger came in 2nd in both 1-meter and 3-meter.

Indiana won 10 events at last year’s Big Ten Championships. Tyler won Big Ten Diver of the Year for the second-straight year, while Burns won his 4th-straight Big Ten title in the 200 back.

SPRINT FREE: ★★★ ½ 

Indiana was thin as far as NCAA-scoring caliber swimmers in the sprint free events last season. They had one swimmer compete in the 50 free at NCAAs, while they had two in the 100 free, and one in the 200 free. They made the most out of those few swimmers, as Rafael Miroslaw came in 5th in the 200 free in 1:30.84, then took 14th in the 100 free in 41.75. Miroslaw also produced a career-best 1:30.76 in the 200 free leading off IU’s 800 free relay at NCAAs.

Miroslaw should be gaining some help in the sprint free events this season. The most notable sprint free addition to the team is Matt King, who transferred to Indiana from Virginia after spending last season as an Olympic Redshirt. King hasn’t competed at NCAAs since 2022, however, he was great there, taking 7th in the 100 free (41.34) and 12th in the 50 free (19.02). He’ll come in as Indiana’s top sprinter, holding career bests of 18.96 in the 50 free and 41.34 in the 100 free. King also has a solid 1:34.33 200 free personal best to boot. King is coming off a very successful summer, wherein he qualified for the US Olympic Team on the 4×100 free relay. King also clocked a career best of 21.70 in the LC 50 free, taking 3rd in the event at the Olympic Trials with that performance, touching just 0.01 seconds from making the Olympic Team in that event as well. He brings elite speed in the 50 and 100 to the table immediately, and we’ll see if Ray Looze and his staff will be able to develop him enough in the 200 free to make him a triple threat.

Miroslav Knedla, a freshman from the Czech Republic is a solid sprinter in his own right. It’s hard to tell whether Knedla, who is primarily a backstroker, will race any free individually, however, the potential is there. He’s 50.62 in the LC 100 free, an excellent time for someone who is just beginning their college career. His personal best of 1:51.58 in the LC 200 free is in a similar vein, so it will be interesting to see how Knedla develops in those events.

We almost certainly won’t see ASU transfer Owen McDonald in any sprint free events individually, but he’s strong there as well. McDonald holds a career-best of 42.81 in the 100 free, a time which he swam at a dual meet with Stanford last season, indicating he could go a bit faster than that. He was also excellent in the event LC this summer, clocking a career best of 48.92 in the LC 100 free. McDonald is also a 1:32.06 200 freestyler, having gone a career-best of 1:47.87 in the LC event this summer as well. McDonald will likely only be racing freestyle on relays at big meets this season, however, he does add to the depth of this sprint group.

McDonald’s younger brother, Cooper McDonald, is a freshman at Indiana this season. Cooper is sort of a “do it all” freestyler, excelling in all distances of the stroke, so it will be interesting to see where he thrives the most in college, where he’ll have to shave down his number of events a bit. As a sprinter, the younger McDonald enters college with a career-best of 20.40 in the 50 free. While that may not jump off the page, his personal best of 43.78 in the 100 free, and 1:34.82 in the 200 free certainly do. Coming in as a 1:34 200 freestyler, McDonald may be able to provide some depth to Miroslaw at NCAAs this season as a freshman.

The Hoosiers also have Luke Barr returning for his senior season. Barr raced the 100 free at NCAAs last year, finishing 47th in 42.56. Mikkel Lee was also big for the Hoosiers last year as a freshman, swimming a personal best of 42.50 in the 100 free. Lee swam a career best of 22.13 in the LC 50 free over the summer, so we’ll see how he develops in his 2nd year with IU.

DISTANCE FREE: ★★★★

This distance group received a shot in the arm in the form of Zalan Sarkany. The transfer from ASU will be entering his junior year. Sarkany is the defending NCAA champion in the 1650 free, having won the event in 14:30.57. He has actually been much faster than that, however, having won the Pac-12 title in 14:23.01, which stands as his personal best. Sarkany is also an excellent 500 freestyler, holding a career best of 4:09.19, which he swam at Pac-12s as well. He comes into this season as a contender in both events. Sarkany also had an excellent summer, placing 11th in the 1500 free, 14th in the 800 free, and 14th in the 400 free at the Olympics in Paris, all while clocking career bests in all 3 events.

Rafael Miroslaw also came into his own in the 500 free last year, swimming to a 14th-place finish in the event at NCAAs. He clocked his career best of 4:11.84 in prelims at NCAAs. Miroslaw and Sarkany will make for a great 1-2 punch in the event.

Indiana lost an NCAA qualifier in the distance events from last year in Tristan DeWitt, but they do gain Cooper McDonald. Again, it’s hard to tell exactly what McDonald will end up racing now that he’s in college, but right now it seems likely the 500 free will be on his schedule. He was a fantastic 500 freestyler in high school, joining IU with a career-best of 4:17.99, which would have been 2nd on their roster last year. He’ll have to improve by a few seconds just to qualify for NCAAs this season, but the potential is definitely there.

McDonald is a very strong miler as well. His personal best of 15:14.31 in the 1650 free puts him in a good spot heading into college, if that’s an event he’s going to focus on.

BACKSTROKE: ★★★★

Despite the loss of Brendan Burns, this Indiana backstroke squad is still solidly a 4-star group. That’s almost entirely because of the addition of junior transfer Owen McDonald and freshman Miroslav Knedla. McDonald was on of the top backstrokers in the NCAA last year, finishing 3rd in the 200 back at NCAAs and 6th in the 100 back. He’s also coming off a strong summer after moving to Bloomington, wherein he clocked career bests in the LC 100 back (54.51) and 200 back (1:59.13), and was recently named to the 2024-2025 USA Swimming National Team.

Meanwhile, Knedla is a freshman from the Czech Republic, and he looks like he could make a massive impact immediately in the NCAA. Knedla was the 2023 World Junior Champion in the LC 50 back and 100 back, and he came in 7th in the 100 back at the World Championships in February of this year. More recently, Knedla competed at the Paris Olympics, where he finished 10th in the prelims of the 100 back before taking 12th in the semifinals. His career best of 53.28 in the LC 100 back ranks among the very best LC times among active NCAA swimmers.

Knedla isn’t quite as strong in the 200 back as he is in the 100 back, however, he may still develop into a strong yards 200 backstroker as he spends more time training at IU.

In addition to McDonald and Knedla, IU returns Kai Van Westering for his junior season. Van Westering scored in the 200 back at NCAAs last year, taking 13th in the event. He also competed in the 100 back, where he came in 33rd with a 46.18, however, Van Westering clocked a season-best of 45.43 at the Big Ten Championships.

Luke Barr, who is entering his senior season with the Hoosiers, competed in the 100 back at NCAAs as well last year, finishing 27th in a time of 45.79.

BREASTSTROKE: ★★★★★

To no one’s surprise, Indiana has one of the top breaststroke groups in the NCAA. Last season, they had 4 swimmers go under 52 seconds in the 100 breast, 3 of whom are returning this season. They also had 4 swimmers under 1:52 in the 200 breast, 3 of whom return in that event as well.

The loss is Max Reich, who came in 10th in the 200 breast at NCAAs last season and was 29th in prelims of the 100 breast.

The duo of Josh Matheny and Jassen Yep are back for the Hoosiers, looking to lead this breaststroke group once again. Matheny was Indiana’s top 100 breaststroker last year, clocking a season best of 51.07, which earned him 6th in the event at NCAAs. Meanwhile, Yep, who is returning for his Fifth Year, was the leading 200 breaststroker, clocking a career-best of 1:50.40 at the Big Ten Championships. Yep came in 7th in the 200 breast at NCAAs. Matheny was IU’s 2nd-fastest 200 breaststroker, posting a season-best of 1:51.13, however, he was DQ’d in the event at NCAAs, otherwise, he likely would have scored there as well. Yep’s 100 breast time of 51.49 was 3rd on the IU depth chart last season.

Finn Brooks was the #2 100 breaststroker on the roster last year, swimming a 51.30 at the Big Ten Championships. Brooks missed out on qualifying for finals in the event at NCAAs, however, his season-best time would have been fast enough to do so.

Rising sophomore Toby Barnett was huge for Indiana in the 200 breast last season as a freshman. He clocked a career-best of 1:51.95 in the 200 breast at Big Tens, then went on to take 18th in the event at NCAAs.

Though Indiana is in great shape due to their returning swimmers, their new breaststroke addition may be the crowning jewel this season. Brian Benzing used his fifth year of eligibility to transfer to IU for this season, after spending his undergrad at Towson. Benzing came in 2nd in the 100 breast at NCAAs last year, clocking a career best of 50.59. He was also great in the 200 breast, taking 16th.

Even without taking any freshmen into account, this looks to be clearly one of the best breaststroke groups in the NCAA.

BUTTERFLY: ★★★★

Indiana returns two NCAA finalists in the 100 fly from last season. Tomer Frankel, who is using his fifth year of eligibility to stay at Indiana, took 2nd in the 100 fly at NCAAs last season, posting a career-best of 43.85. He’s joined by Finn Brooks, who took 15th in the event and was Indiana’s 2nd-fastest swimmer last season with a 44.84.

Dylan Smiley showed a ton of promise in the 100 fly last year as a freshman, and he’ll be looking to build on that this season. Last year, Smiley was IU’s 3rd-fastest 100 flyer, posting a personal best of 45.64.

In the 200 fly, the return of Frankel is massive once again. Last year, Frankel came in 4th in the event at NCAAs, swimming a 1:39.35. The Hoosiers lost Brendan Burns, however, and he was the 8th-place finisher in the event last year. It’s unclear whether any of the newcomers to the team will be able to make an impact this season in the 200 fly, but, either way, the Hoosiers are in good shape there with Frankel back.

IM: ★★★½

Indiana’s IM group has gone from a bit on the thin side last year, to fantastic this year, all thanks to their newcomers. Last year as a freshman, Toby Barnett was huge for the Hoosiers in the 400 IM. He led the team by several seconds, clocking a career-best of 3:41.37 at the Big Ten Championships. He ended up coming in 18th in the event at NCAAs with a 3:42.16. That being said, Barnett will be looking to build on that momentum in his sophomore season.

Lucas Piunti and Drew Reiter are both back for the Hoosiers as well, and they were strong in the 400 IM last year behind Barnett. Both Piunti and Reiter went 3:44 in the 400 IM last season.

The addition of Zalan Sarkany will be huge for the 400 IM group at Indiana. Sarkany holds a career-best of 3:40.50 in the 400 IM, which he swam at the Pac-12 Championships last season. He and Barnett should make a great 1-2 for Indiana in the event.

Cooper McDonald will probably be in the 200 free on that day of the championship meets, however, he’s a promising 400 IM’er either way. McDonald enters college with a career-best of 3:48.88.

Indiana sees Owen McDonald, the NCAA runner-up from last year, join the team to lead the 200 IM’ers. McDonald came in 2nd in the event last year with a career-best of 1:39.23. He’ll be joining Luke Barr, who was IU’s leading 200 IM’er last season with a 1:41.97. Owen’s younger brother, Cooper, could be impactful in the event as well, entering college with a 1:46.33 in the event.

On top of that, Miroslav Knedla could be a big 200 IM’er for the Hoosiers this season, as he holds a career-best of 2:00.26 in the LC 200 IM. We haven’t seen him race yards yet, but that time in meters should mean he’ll be a very competitive 200 IM’er in the NCAA.

DIVING: ★★★★★

This is as five-star diving squad as there is. One of the premier diving teams in the NCAA, and one of the most storied, Indiana should roll in diving once again this season. Last year Carson Tyler was the NCAA Champion in 3-meter and platform diving, while Quinn Henninger took 2nd in 1-meter and 3-meter. They were both triple threats, as Tyler also took 5th in 1-meter to go along with his titles, while Henninger came in 7th on platform.

They were just the tip of the iceberg, however, as then-sophomore Max Weinrich totaled 19 points for Indiana in diving as well. He competed in all 3 events, taking 2nd in platform, 15th in 3-meter, and 28th in 1-meter. That means Indiana returns the NCAA champion, runner-up, and 7th-place finisher in platform diving from last year.

To put it in context, Tyler, Henninger, and Weinrich combined for 121 points at NCAAs last year. 121 points would have come in 11th as a team for the meet. In other words, Indiana’s diving squad that they return from last year is nearly a top 10 swimming and diving team in the NCAA by themselves.

RELAYS: ★★★★

Note that the grading system doesn’t align perfectly for relays as double points.

Relay grading system:

• 5 star (★★★★★) – 31+ points per relay event
• 4 star (★★★★) – 22-30 relay points per event
• 3 star (★★★) – 12-21 relay points per event
• 2 star (★★) – 5-11 relay points per event
• 1 star (★) – 0-4 relay points per event

Given the additions to the team, Indiana’s relays should be in better shape than they were last season. They added significant depth in the sprint free events, and while the loss of Brendan Burns hurts the medley relays a bit, adding Owen McDonald and Miroslav Knedla into the mix should completely mitigate that loss. Additionally, Matt King may provide an even faster freestyler on those medley relays, and Brian Benzing could provide a bit of a boost on breaststroke as well.

Total Stars: 33/40

2024/2025 OUTLOOK

Indiana is in a phenomenal position heading into this season, probably the best position in the NCAA. They return 13 of 17 members of their NCAA Champs roster from last season, and bring in some seriously heavy hitters on top of that.

To put it to you this way, if you put only Indiana’s new swimmers for this season on a team by themselves, they would be right around a top 10 team at NCAAs, and they would be there without any relays. Owen McDonald, Zalan Sarkany, Brian Benzing, and Matt King accounted for 106 points at NCAAs last year (King’s most recent NCAAs was 2022, where he scored 17 points), which would have been 12th as a team at last year’s meet. That’s not even taking Miroslav Knedla into account, and as a World Junior Champs gold medalist and World Champs finalist, he certainly has the potential to make a huge impact in his freshman season.

All that is to say, Indiana more than made up for the loss of Brendan Burns and Max Reich from last year’s roster, to the point where they have a significantly better roster this season. These additions will also help bolster their relays even more.

Indiana is also helped by the fact that defending NCAA champions Arizona State saw their team splintered after head coach Bob Bowman took the head coaching job at Texas. Two of ASU’s best swimmers in McDonald and Sarkany transferred over to IU, while a few others followed Bowman to Texas.

With the return of this final group of Fifth Years, alongside this incredible incoming class of transfers and freshmen, Indiana is in excellent position to win the NCAA title this season. Things can change, but at this moment, it feels like everything is breaking in favor of the Hoosiers. This is a roster with elite talent in every discipline, including diving, and they have the juice to take this thing all the way after years and years of top 5 finishes.

MEN’S PREVIEW INDEX:

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