2025 College Swimming Previews: New Era of Breaststrokers Bolster #7 Indiana Women

09/18/2024 08:00 AM

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 and the College Swimming Preview Compendium. Want to read even more? Check out the latest edition of the SwimSwam magazine. 

#7 Indiana Hoosiers

Key Losses: Ashley Turak (7 NCAA Points), Ella Ristic (2 NCAA Relays), Anne Fowler (18 NCAA Points)

Key Additions: Lucie Delmas (France – Fly/Breast), Justine Delmas(France – Breast/IM), Miranda Grana (TAMU transfer – Back/Fly), Mary Cespedes(IN – Breast), Daniela Karnaugh (NJ – Breast)

Returning Fifth Years: Anna Freed (NCAA Qualifier)

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, the 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.

2023-24 LOOKBACK

The Indiana Hoosiers had a successful 2023-24 season, finishing 7th at NCAAs with a string of great performances. They had a strong showing in the relays, taking 5th in the 800 free relay, 8th in the 200 free and 400 free relay, 13th in the 200 medley relay, and 15th in the 400 medley relay.

Some of their highlights included putting both Ching Hwee Gan and Mariah Denigan on the podium in the 1650 free at NCAAs, with Gan taking 3rd and Denigan taking 7th. Anna Peplowski was also phenomenal for the Hoosiers at NCAAs, taking 2nd in the 200 free, 3rd in the 500 free, and 7th in the 100 free.

Additionally, the Hoosiers ended Ohio State’s run of Big Ten titles, winning the 2024 Big Ten Championships by half-a-point over the Buckeyes.

SPRINT FREE: ★★★★

The Hoosiers are in a good place in the sprint free events, even though they lost Ashley Turak, who used her final year of eligibility last season. Turak took 10th in the 50 free at NCAAs last season, swimming a 21.73, which led the team.

IU does return Kristina Paegle to lead the 50 freestylers, however. Paegle was right behind Turak last season, posting a lifetime best of 21.76 and finishing 12th at NCAAs.

Paegle and Anna Peplowski both scored in the 100 free at NCAAs last season as well. Paegle finished 11th in the 100 free with a personal best of 47.57, while Peplowski took 7th in 47.31. Peplowski led the Hoosiers in the 100 free last season with a top time of 47.18.

Peplowski’s best event is the 200 free, where she finished 2nd at NCAAs last year in a photo-finish with a time of 1:40.97. She’s entering her senior season and coming off a successful summer, wherein she competed on the U.S. women’s 4×200 free relay at the Olympics in Paris, earning a silver medal. Peplowski enters this season as one of the favorites in the 200 free.

Paegle was Indiana’s 2nd-fastest 200 freestyler last season, clocking in with a season-best of 1:45.43. While IU doesn’t have a ton of depth in the 200, having Peplowski at the top is worth quite a bit.

Indiana has freshman Adrianna Lojewskijoining the team as well, and she’ll hopefully be able to help in the sprint free events. Lojewski is a very solid sprinter, coming in with a personal best of 23.07 in the 50 free and 49.74 in the 100 free. She’s 1:52.80 in the 200 free, so they’ll need to develop her more there, however, Lojewski looks like a promising freshman in the 50 and 100.

DISTANCE FREE: ★★★★

This group is close to being a five-star squad, but they’ll need another swimmer to break into scoring contention in the 500 free in order to get there. IU has one of the best distance duos in the NCAA currently, as Ching Hwee Gan and Mariah Denigan came in 3rd and 7th respectively in the 1650 free at NCAAs last season. Additionally, Elyse Heiser was a 2024 NCAA qualifier, taking 24th in the 1650 free. Gan, Denigan, and Heiser are all entering their senior seasons.

The Hoosiers have Anna Peplowski returning in the 500 free, an event which she switched to last season. Peplowski managed to take 3rd in the 500 at NCAAs last season, clocking 4:34.06. IU had a strong contingent of swimmers behind Peplowski last season, as Gan, Heiser, and Denigan each had season bests of 4:40-point-something. It took a 4:38.87 to advance to the ‘B’ final in the 500 at NCAAs last season, so that trio of swimmers is just outside of scoring range.

Gan is the closest to moving into scoring territory in the 500, as she holds a career-best of 4:38.91 from the 2023 NCAAs. Denigan spent nearly all of the last college season training for her open water Olympic bid, which was ultimately successful. It’s very possible we’ll see some improvement out of Denigan this season, given that she’ll be focused on NCAA competition.

BACKSTROKE: ★★★★

Backstroke is suddenly looking like a strength for this Hoosiers team. Kacey McKennareturns for her senior season after leading the Hoosiers’ backstroke group in a resurgent campaign. McKenna took 2nd in the prelims of the 100 back at NCAAs last season with a career-best of 50.23, ultimately placing 6th in the final. McKenna isn’t as strong in the 200 back, though her season best of 1:53.57 last year wasn’t too far off the 1:52.62 it took to qualify for the ‘B’ final at NCAAs.

Not only does Indiana return McKenna, but they also add a huge transfer from Texas A&M in Miranda Grana. Grana spent her freshman season at Texas A&M, then announced her transfer to Indiana in May, bolstering this IU team. Like McKenna, Grana was an ‘A’ finalist in the 100 back at NCAAs last season, finishing 8th. Her career best of 50.65 in the event gives the Hoosiers an elite 1-2 punch in the event.

Grana should also be Indiana’s top 200 backstroker this season, as she clocked a 1:51.06 for Texas A&M last year as a freshman. She managed a 6th-place finish in the event at NCAAs last season, and she’ll be looking to build on that momentum this year.

Given McKenna and Grana, the Hoosiers have three returning ‘A’ finals swims in backstroke from last year.

As far as the depth goes in the backstroke events, it’s looking pretty strong for IU. Mya DeWitt was Indiana’s 2nd-fastest 100 backstroker last season, showing some solid improvement with a 52.35. DeWitt also posted her career best of 1:54.39 in the 200 back last season. Anna Freed is returning for her fifth year, and she’ll provide some nice depth in the 200 back as well, as she went 1:54.17 in the event last season.

BREASTSTROKE: ★★★

Indiana’s breaststroke group is on the upswing, as the vast majority of this incoming recruiting class specializes in the stroke. Before we get to that, however, the Hoosiers are returning their top breaststroker from last season in Brearna Crawford, who is entering her senior season. Crawford clocked a season-best of 59.64 in the 100 breast last season, which was just off her career best of 59.32. She also led the Hoosiers in the 200 breast, where she posted a 2:07.25. Crawford came in 17th in the 200 breast at NCAAs last season, finishing one place outside of scoring in the event.

As for the incoming freshmen, that group is led by France’s Justine Delmas. Delmas is one of France’s top up-and-coming women’s breaststrokers, holding a career best of 1:08.25 in the LCM 100 breast and 2:25.12 in the LCM 200 breast. Time conversions from meters to yards can vary quite a bit from swimmer to swimmer, however, we can reasonably project that Delmas’ LCM times coming in as she joins the Hoosiers would land somewhere around Crawford’s yards times in the 100 and 200. That’s a very promising starting point, especially for a program that has a rich history of developing breaststrokers.

Indiana also brings in freshman Mary Cespedes, an Indiana native, to help bolster this breaststroke group. Cespedes comes in with a personal best of 1:01.42 in the 100 breast and 2:14.35 in the 200 breast. Those are very solid times for an incoming freshman, and Indiana has a good track record with recruiting in-state breaststrokers, both men and women, and developing them well. Lilly King is, of course, the most noteworthy example of that, but there have been many breaststrokers from Indiana that have gone through the Hoosiers’ program and done quite well.

Daniela Karnaugh is another incoming freshman with very similar times to Cespedes. Karnaugh holds a career best of 1:01.50 in the 100 breast and a 2:13.58 in the 200 breast. She holds some great LCM personal bests as well, as she’s been 1:09.73 in the 100 breast and 2:29.64 in the 200 breast.

In a very similar vein, Ana Hazlehurst joins this freshman class with a personal best of 1:01.33 in the 100 breast and 2:14.59 in the 200 breast. That gives IU a trio of freshmen, who are all 1:01.3-1:01.5 in the 100 breast, and 2:13 or 2:14 in the 200 breast.

BUTTERFLY: ★★

This butterfly squad will likely end up being a tgree-star group when all is said and done, but as things stand as we enter the season, we’ll rate them as at two stars. While it does look like there’s still a decent chance fly remains the weakest stroke for IU once again this season, the fly group is undeniably improved over last year.

The transfer of Miranda Grana will help out quite a bit in the 100 fly. Grana is a 51.32 in the 100 fly, a time which would have tied for 14th at NCAAs in the event last season. Grana won’t swim the 200 fly, however, her presence in the 100 fly gives Indiana a potential scorer already.

Lucie Delmas, the sister of Justine Delmas, is going to be another huge addition to the fly squad. Delmas is an excellent flier, holding career bests of 59.02 in the LCM 100 fly and 2:10.42 in the LCM 200 fly. Once again, conversions aren’t always terribly accurate, but it’s worth noting that Delmas’ 100 fly time converts to 52.00 in yards, and her 200 time converts to 1:55.09.

Grana and Delmas will pair nicely with what Indiana has returning in the fly events. Chiok Sze Yeo was IU’s leading 100 flyer last season, coming in with a season-best of 52.81. Kacey McKenna was the 2nd-fastest with a 53.30, while Ava Whitaker, who was a freshman last season, was 3rd in 53.34.

Whitaker was Indiana’s leading 200 flyer last season with a 1:56.51, which put her right ahead of Anna Freed (1:56.65), who returns for her fifth year this season.

Incoming freshman Ana Hazlehurstshould provide some good depth in the fly events as well. Hazlehurst is a great breaststroker and flyer, so we’ll have to see which events she ends up swimming. She holds a personal best of 53.80 in the 100 fly, and 2:00.16 in the 200 fly.

IM:★★

IM was another of the weaker points on Indiana’s team last season, however, they benefit from the return of their top IM’er from last year in Anna Freed. In her senior season last year, Freed led the team with a 1:58.13 in the 200 IM and a 4:08.37 in the 400 IM. Freed came in 20th place in the 400 IM at NCAAs last season, very close to advancing to the ‘B’ final. It took a 4:08.14 to make the ‘B’ final last season.

Not only does IU benefit from the return of Freed, but their incoming freshmen will be providing a boost to the IM group as well. Justine Delmas is the top incoming freshman in terms of IMs. Her personal best in the LCM 200 IM is 2:17.24, while she’s been 4:46.27 in the LCM 400 IM.

Fellow incoming freshman Ana Hazlehursthas been 2:00.23 in the 200 IM and 4:16.41 in the 400 IM, making her a promising prospect in the IM events as well.

It’s off from NCAA scoring speed, but IU does have some nice depth in the 400 IM in particular. Ching Hwee Gan was their 2nd-fastest 400 IM’er last season, posting a career best of 4:12.08. Mariah Denigan was right behind, boasting a season high of 4:12.84, while Reese Tiltmann, who was only a freshman last season, was 4:13.21.

Tiltmann had a hit-and-miss freshman season, however, she had a great summer of LCM racing. Her summer was highlighted by personal bests of 2:16.83 in the LCM 200 IM and 4:47.63 in the 400 IM. She holds career bests of 1:58.67 in the yards 200 IM and 4:11.11 in the 400 IM from when she was in high school. Given her improvement in LCM this summer, it seems like Tiltmann could be poised for a breakout sophomore season with the Hoosiers.

DIVING: ★★★

Three stars may feel a bit ambitious for this IU diving squad given that they lost their only NCAA-scoring diver from last season in Anne Fowler, however, Indiana still has the ability to score in all three diving events with their group this year.

For one, Skyler Liu returns for her senior season. Liu was great for IU all season last year, but was just a bit off at NCAAs, finishing 26th on 1-meter and 36th on platform. We must remember, however, that Liu finished 4th in platform diving at the 2023 NCAAs, and she was 14th in 3-meter in that season as well. Keeping that in mind, we should consider Liu to still be one of the top platform divers in the NCAA right now.

Indiana also had a pair of freshmen divers last year who qualified for NCAAs but didn’t end up scoring. Ella Roselli came in 21st on 1-meter, 23rd on platform, and 32 in the 3-meter event at NCAAs last year. Meanwhile, fellow freshman Lily Witte came in 24th on 3-meter and 49th on 1-meter. IU will be hoping this duo takes another step forward in their sophomore campaigns.

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

The Hoosiers scored in all five relays at NCAAs last season, accumulating a total of 84 points. Indiana’s relays are in an interesting spot, as some of their free relays will likely take a small step back from last season, while their medley relays should be improved, maybe even significantly improved.

Starting with the free relays, the losses of Ashley Turak and Ella Ristic hurt. Indiana retains Anna Peplowski and Kristina Paegle, so they have two elite legs, but they’ll need new swimmers to step up if they want to compete at the highest levels.

Indiana is in the decent shape in the 200 free relay, as they only lost one leg. Now, that leg happens to be Turak, who was both IU’s fastest 50 freestyler last season and their fastest leg on the relay at NCAAs last year, where she split a fantastic 21.28. They do return Paegle, who anchored in 21.37 last year, and Peplowski, who led off in 21.91, so that’s a good start.Kacey McKenna swam third for IU last year, so they can count on her to contribute again this season.

In the 400 free relay, IU will still have NCAA-scoring 100 freestylers in Peplowski and Paegle, but they’ll need to replace Turak and Ristic, who split 47.96 and 48.79 respectively at NCAAs last season. Freshman Adrianna Lojewskilooks like she could be a possible replacement for that relay, as she enters college with a PB of 49.7, which makes it highly plausible she could get to Ristic’s time this season.

The 800 free relay was Indiana’s best relay last season, as they took 5th in it at NCAAs. They return 200 freestyler runner-up Peplowski, which is a big deal in itself. Paegle was also the 2nd-fastest swimmer on that relay at NCAAs last year, anchoring in a very strong 1:43.47. Distance star Ching Hwee Gan went 3rd last year with a 1:44.56, and she also returns, meaning Indiana will only need to replace Ristic, who split 1:44.84 on the 2nd leg last year. It seems Elyse Heisercould be the next swimmer up, as she was IU’s 4th-fastest 200 freestyler from a flat-start last season, having gone 1:45.96. Given that was an individual swim from Heiser, she should be able to get very close to Ristic’s split off a relay start. As long as the three returning legs can be at least as fast as last year, Indiana is looking at another high finish in the 800 free relay.

While the free relays will need some development and shuffling to get back to where they were last season, the Hoosier medley relays should instantly be better. The addition of Miranda Grana will be great for the medley relays in one way or another. As she and Kacey McKenna are almost the same speed in the 100 back, IU will be able to go with whoever the hot hand is when it comes to picking the backstroker for the 400 medley. McKenna is a better 50 backstroker than Grana, having gone 23.58 at NCAAs last year, which will free Grana up to swim fly on the 200 medley relay. Lucie Delmas may also be the answer for fly on the 200 medley relay (or the 400 medley, for that matter), but either way, IU’s fly leg on the medley relays will absolutely be faster than last year.

Breaststroke will be at least as fast, if not faster for Indiana on the relays. Brearna Crawford handled breaststroke duties for the Hoosiers last season. The only question remaining for breaststroke is whether Justine Delmas will be faster than Crawford this season, in which case IU’s breaststroke legs on the relays will be improved over last year.

And then, of course, the Hoosiers will have either Paegle or Peplowski available to anchor the medley relays, providing a great freestyle leg in either case.

Total Stars: 25/40

2024-25 OUTLOOK

All things considered, IU should be able to make some improvement over last year. They’re in the fortunate position to only have lost 25 points from their NCAA roster last season. That being said, they’ll have to maneuver the loss of Ashley Turak to keep their sprint free relays at the same level they were last year.

Miranda Grana transferring in from Texas A&M should make up for the gap in points that Indiana lost from last season. As a freshman last year, Grana scored 24 points at NCAAs, making the ‘A’ final in both the 100 back and 200 back. If she’s able to take another step forward in her sophomore campaign and her first year at Indiana, Grana will be a heavy hitter for the Hoosiers.

The Delmas sisters, Justine Delmas in particular, could make a huge impact for the Hoosiers. We haven’t seen her race yards yet, so we’ll have to wait a bit to be able to tell for sure, but she comes in with a lot of promise in the breaststroke and IM events.

On a similar note, it looks like Indiana will be returning to form a bit this season. Their incoming class is full of breaststrokers, with a few very good IMers to boot. After being down compared to their usual status in breast and IM last year, IU should be much better in those areas this season.

WOMEN'S 2024-25 COLLEGE PREVIEW INDEX

Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2025 College Swimming Previews: New Era of Breaststrokers Bolster #7 Indiana Women