Bailey Andison had to go somewhere else first. She wasn’t quite fast enough of a swimmer at Smiths Falls Collegiate Institute in Smiths Falls, Ontario to be able to start her college career at the sort of program that produces international champions.
So she spent three years at Denver University to build herself up, then transferred to Indiana for her senior year in 2018 when she believed she had a real opportunity to become an Olympian.
“A big part of my decision to transfer to IU was to pursue an Olympic dream,” Andison said on a Zoom press conference last month. “Denver as a program built me. I was not fast enough to be recruited by Indiana coming out of high school. … But getting to IU is what was a catalyst on my Olympic process.”
Indiana’s swimming and diving program — and its pool in general — is still the type of place where athletes come from around the nation and even around the world to become Olympians, even though its been 48 years since Indiana’s last men’s NCAA team championship under Doc Counsilman. Indiana is sending a combined 15 current and former student-athletes to the Tokyo Olympics, which formally begin with the opening ceremonies on Friday. They will represent six different countries, and all but one of them will be playing a sport that occurs in a swimming pool.
There will be nine swimmers, three divers, two women’s water polo players and one women’s soccer player from Indiana heading to Tokyo, and the Hoosiers will also be sending diving coach Drew Johansen to be the head diving coach for Team USA and swimming and diving program director Ray Looze to be an assistant swimming coach.
Andison will be one of the swimmers representing Team Canada, having qualified in the 200 individual medley. She’s been out of collegiate competition for two years, but she can still train in Bloomington as a professional as part of the post-graduate program. That is the engine, she said, that keeps IU competitive and keeps Olympic quality talent coming into the Indiana pool.
“A huge asset that Indiana has that, at the time Denver didn’t have, was that Indiana had a post-grad, professional group that was pursuing athletic careers as their main focus,” Andison said. “When I got to Indiana, there was just a heightened training environment just because there were already Olympians and professionals who were there solely for the swimming experience. Having those people there to push me and also have that Olympic mindset always around me is what helped me get to this point.”
The Hoosiers are sending so many athletes to Tokyo in spite of the fact that they couldn’t use the pool for an extended period last spring and summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of them trained in a pond in a Bloomington subdivision last summer and in a community pool in Seymour.
“I can’t thank that community enough,” Looze said. “Specifically Dave Boggs, the high school coach there. All year long I was worried, did we do enough? We did everything we could, and I guess when you look back at who we’ve qualified for the Olympic games, it was better than most. But really, we’re going to be judged at what we do in the games.”
Indiana has every reason to expect big things from its headliner, Lilly King. King won gold medals in the 100 meter breaststroke and as part of the 4×100 meter medley relay in Rio de Janeiro in the 2016 Olympic games. She won a combined eight NCAA championships in the 100 and 200 breaststroke at Indiana from 2016-19 and has 11 gold medals in world championships. Now she’s back gunning for more Olympic gold. She’s qualified in both the 100-meter and 200-meter breaststroke and likely to swim relays as well. She holds the world record in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1 minute, 4.13 seconds at the 2017 world championships, and her best time at the U.S. Olympic trials, 1:04.72, is the best time by anyone in the world since that world record.
Looze says he believes King is in the best shape she’s ever been in, and she’s not inclined to disagree.
“I’m glad Ray is saying I’m in the best shape ever,” King said. “That’s definitely reassuring. I’m ready to go. I feel much more experienced at this point. I feel like going in in 2016, I was deer in the headlights, had no idea what was going on. I’m feeling a lot more at ease, but also prepared.”
Indiana and Team USA also have high hopes for Michael Brinegar, a long-distance swimmer who won the Big Ten title in the 1,650 freestyle this year and earned All-America honors in the event this year and in 2019, when he finished second in the NCAA championships. He finished second in both the 8000meter freestyle and 1500-meter freestyle at the U.S. Olympic trials to qualify in both races.
“When I watched him swim in Omaha (at trials) that’s the best his stroke has looked,” Looze said. “I think the collegiate season really played a big role in setting him up for his success.”
Hoosier athletes are also well set up to make an impact on the diving board. Andrew Capobianco, the Big Ten Diver of the Year and two-time 3-meter NCAA champion, qualified individually in the 3-meter springboard event and also qualified with former Indiana NCAA champion Mike Hixon in the 3-meter synchronized springboard. Hixon won a silver medal in the 2016 Olympics in the event.
“The experience has been a dream,” Capobianco said. “I definitely saw it coming a little bit. … I think that Drew (Johansen) has done such a great job with me physically but also mentally. I’ve become a much more strong competitor and confident competitor. I think my first few years I was a little bit doubtful of myself. Now I definitely see how I can be one of the best in the world. I’m excited.”
The coaches going over are also more confident. Johansen is heading into his third straight Olympics and has a good sense of how he wants to function in his role.
“The team has a really nice mixture of experienced divers, medalists, with some of the new talent that’s going to take us through Tokyo,” Johansen said, “so we’re really excited.”
Looze admits that he wasn’t thrilled with his performance as a coach the first time around in Rio de Janeiro, especially while working with athletes who had multiple events and had to follow up great performances with more. He said he feels more ready for that this time around.
“I felt like in Rio the last few days we were running on fumes,” Looze said. “I wasn’t really happy with how we performed on the relays. I’ve learned a lot after being on two world championship staffs on how to work through eight days better. … It’s just knowing what’s coming, especially after great performances.”
That being said, Looze is also making a point to enjoy the experience and appreciate that both he and Johansen get to help Indiana by being part of the U.S. team.
“It’s incredibly important and it is so hard to be a coach for Team USA,” Looze said. “I didn’t ever think that would happen to me. Drew is on his third time, I’m on my second. I’m just humbled and grateful. We have really good coaches here and awesome swimmers and that’s what makes it all possible. I’m humbled by the opportunity. We just want to do a good job for those kids that are going.”
Full list of IU Olympians, as compiled by IU athletics
Bailey Andison – Team Canada – Women’s Swimming
Zach Apple – Team USA – Men’s Swimming
Michael Brinegar – Team USA – Men’s Swimming
Andrew Capobianco – Team USA – Men’s Diving
Marwan Elkamash – Team Egypt – Men’s Swimming
Tomer Frankel – Team Israel – Men’s Swimming
Jessica Gaudreault — Team Canada – Women’s Water Polo
Mike Hixon – Team USA – Men’s Diving
Ali Khalafalla – Team Egypt – Men’s Swimming
Lilly King – Team USA – Women’s Swimming
Vini Lanza – Team Brazil – Men’s Swimming
Shae (Fournier) La Roche – Team Canada – Women’s Water Polo
Jessica Parratto – Team USA – Women’s Diving
Blake Pieroni – Team USA – Men’s Swimming
Gabi Rennie – Team Australia – Women’s Soccer
Jorge Campillo – Team Spain – Men’s Golf
Drew Johansen – Team USA – Head Diving Coach
Ray Looze – Team USA – Assistant Swimming Coach
Full schedule for IU Olympic athletes compiled by IU athletics
July 21
Gabi Rennie (New Zealand, women’s soccer), vs. Australia, 7:30 a.m. ET, USA
Gabi Rennie (New Zealand, women’s soccer), vs. Australia Replay, 2:15 p.m. ET, NBCSN
July 23
Live Opening Ceremony, 6:55 a.m. ET, NBC
Primetime Opening Ceremony, 7:30 p.m. ET, NBC
July 24
Gabi Rennie (New Zealand, women’s soccer), vs. USA, 7:30 a.m. ET, NBCOlympics.com
Gabi Rennie (New Zealand, women’s soccer), vs. USA Replay, 6:00 p.m. ET, USA
Shae La Roche (Canada, water polo), vs. Australia – preliminary round game 2, 2:30 a.m. ET, NBCOlympics.com
July 25
Lilly King (USA, women’s swimming, 100m breaststroke – heats, 6:59 a.m. ET, USA
Zach Apple and Blake Pieroni (USA, 400m freestyle relay – heats, 8:10 a.m. ET, USA
Lilly King (USA, women’s swimming, 100m breaststroke – semifinal, 9:50 p.m. ET, NBC
Zach Apple and Blake Pieroni (USA, 400m freestyle relay – final, 11:05 p.m. ET, NBC
July 26
Shae La Roche (Canada, water polo), vs. Spain – preliminary round game 8, 6:50 a.m. ET, NBCOlympics.com
Bailey Andison (Canada, women’s swimming, 200m im – heats), 6:56 a.m. ET, USA
Lilly King (USA, women’s swimming, 100m breaststroke – final, 10:17 p.m. ET, NBC
Bailey Andison (Canada, women’s swimming, 200m im – final), 10:58 p.m. ET, NBC
July 27
Jessica Parratto (USA, women’s diving, 10m synchro – final), 2:00 a.m. ET, CNBC
Gabi Rennie (New Zealand, women’s soccer), vs. Sweden, 4:00 a.m. ET, NBCOlympics.com
Zach Apple (USA, men’s swimming, 100m freestyle – heats), 6:02 a.m. ET, USA
Michael Brineger and Marwan Elkamash (USA and Egypt, men’s swimming, 800m freestyle – heats), 7:37 a.m. ET, USA
Zach Apple (USA, men’s swimming, 100m freestyle – final), 9:30 p.m. ET, NBC
July 28
Andrew Capobianco and Michael Hixon (USA, men’s diving, 3m synchro), 2:00 a.m. ET, USA
Shae La Roche (Canada, water polo), vs. Russia – preliminary round game 10, 2:30 a.m. ET, NBCOlympics.com
Lilly King and Annie Lazor (USA, women’s swimming, 200m breaststroke – heats), 6:52 a.m. ET, USA
Vini Lanza (Brazil, men’s swimming, 200m im – heats), 7:15 a.m. ET, USA
Michael Brineger and Marwan Elkamash (USA and Egypt, men’s swimming, 800m freestyle – final), 9:30 p.m. ET, NBC
Zach Apple (USA, men’s swimming, 100m freestyle – final), 10:37 p.m. ET, NBC
Lilly King and Annie Lazor (USA, women’s swimming, 200m breaststroke – semifinal), 10:54 p.m. ET, NBC
Vini Lanza (Brazil, men’s swimming, 200m im – semifinal), 11:08 p.m. ET, NBC
July 29
Tomer Frankel (Israel, men’s swimming, 100m butterfly – heats), 6:50 a.m. ET, USA
Tomer Frankel (Israel, men’s swimming, 100m butterfly – semifinal), 9:30 p.m. ET, NBC
Vini Lanza (Brazil, men’s swimming, 200m im – final), 10:16 p.m. ET, NBC
Jorge Campillo (Spain, men’s golf stroke play round 1)
July 30
Ali Khalafalla (Egypt, men’s swimming, 50m freestyle – heats), 6:02 a.m. ET, USA
Michael Brineger (USA, men’s swimming, 1500m freestyle – heats), 6:48 a.m. ET, USA
Tomer Frankel (Israel, men’s swimming, 100m butterfly – final), 9:30 p.m. ET, NBC
Ali Khalafalla (Egypt, men’s swimming, 50m freestyle – semifinal), 10:11 p.m. ET, NBC
Jorge Campillo (Spain, men’s golf stroke play round 2)
July 31
Ali Khalafalla (Egypt, men’s swimming, 50m freestyle – final), 9:30 p.m. ET, NBC
Michael Brineger (USA, men’s swimming, 1500m freestyle – final), 9:44 p.m.. ET, NBC
Jorge Campillo (Spain, men’s golf stroke play round 3)
August 1
Shae La Roche (Canada, water polo), vs. Netherlands – preliminary round game 18, 2:30 a.m. ET, NBCOlympics.com
Shae La Roche (Canada, water polo), vs. Netherlands, 12:45 p.m. ET, USA
Jorge Campillo (Spain, men’s golf stroke play round 4)
August 2
Andrew Capobianco (USA, men’s diving, 3m springboard – preliminary), 2:00 a.m. ET, CNBC
Andrew Capobianco (USA, men’s diving, 3m springboard – semifinal), 9:00 p.m. ET, NBCOlympics.com
August 3
Andrew Capobianco (USA, men’s diving, 3m springboard – final), 2:00 a.m. ET, CNBC
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