Domination was the name of the game this weekend at the Big Ten Championships in Columbus, Ohio.
In the process of breaking 10 school records, Northwestern brought home two individual conferences titles and the titles of Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships and Big Ten Coach of the Year, capping off the most successful Big Ten Championships in the history of the program.
The team finished fifth overall.
Senior Andrea Hupman was the face of Wildcat swimming this weekend. She won two Big Ten titles, in the 100 and 200 free, and came in second in the 50 free. In every event she swam, she broke the school record, the pool record, the meet record and earned “A” qualification times, ensuring her a trip to the NCAA Championships.
Hupman was named Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships after her stellar performance.
“That’s just something you don’t see very often,” coach Jimmy Tierney said. “It was a very special performance for her, and things just came together.
“However, she wasn’t the only one.”
NU broke a total of 10 NU school records, starting with the tournament’s very first event Thursday. In the 500 free, sophomore Kassia Shishkoff started things off by breaking the school record with a time of 4:44.00.
But in the very next heat, freshman Ellen Grigg beat Shishkoff with a time of 4:43.92, taking down the record for a second time. Both times were good enough for the “A” qualification cut.
Tierney described that morning session as “the best first morning session that we’ve had in several years. It got everybody excited, and from then on, it was ‘Let’s keep it going.'”
And the Wildcats did keep it going: The records kept falling, and the times kept dropping.
NU saw four more records go on the second day. Shishkoff shattered the 400 IM record by more than three seconds, earning an ‘A’ qualification time.
Senior Katie Braun broke the 100 fly record, and freshman Liza Engstrom broke the 100 back record. The 800 free relay, consisting of Hupman, sophomore Emily Wong, Grigg and Shishkoff, also lowered the record time, which was set last year.
“We had wonderful leadership with the captains, Andrea and Katie Braun, but I think the enthusiasm of the group kept us going,” Tierney said.
“We didn’t see a lot of people being nervous and uptight – everyone was just having fun and enjoying spending time with each other.”
On the final day of the meet, sophomore Genny Syzmanski broke the 200 back record, also earning an ‘A’ qualification time.
The meet ended just as it started – with a broken record.
The 400 free relay, consisting of Hupman, Wong, freshman Teisha Lightbourne and Shishkoff, broke NU’s 10th and final record of the weekend.
On the diving board for the Cats this weekend was redshirt senior Leanne Dumais. She finished seventh in the 1-meter event and fifth in the 3-meter event.
“You just really feel great for them, because they commit the time and they’re the ones who are out there pushing themselves,” Tierney said.
Tierney was named the Big Ten’s Coach of the Year after his team’s outstanding swimming this weekend.
“It makes me feel like I have some very talented athletes,” Tierney said. “They take to heart what we ask them, and they try to make it happen.”
For the time being, the team is still unsure as to who will be attending the NCAAs, because much of it is based on the times of other swimmers from other conferences. But all NCAA hopefuls are back to work in this pool this week.
“There is still a lot of swimming and diving left,” Tierney said, “and hopefully we’ll see some good things.”
