The next meet Ohio will swim in is the Mid-American Conference Championships on Feb. 21-24, and looking at the combination of dual-meets and invitationals, Ohio has been improving over the course of the season.
Five swimmers stand out.
The dual-meet times are not the fastest, due to the meets having 16 events in a two-hour period.
When the team had more rest in between the races at the TYR Invitational and U.S. Winter Nationals, the times were faster than any other point in the season.
Those meets were also the highest quality opponents, with swimmers from the Big Ten at the invitational and some of best from across the country at nationals.
Corrin Van Lanen was dominant in the dual-meets, winning the 50- and 100-yard freestyles four times each, along with the 100-yard butterfly five times. Van Lanen has beaten the main opponent in the 50-yard freestyle during dual-meets and currently has the second-best time in the conference.
The emergence of Hannah Schlegel and Sam Glass as freshmen has been key for Ohio’s success this season.
Schlegel has established herself as a top long-distance swimmer in the MAC, with the second-best 1,000-yard freestyle time in the conference this season and the sixth-fastest time in Ohio history.
Glass has been showcasing her ability to swim all strokes at the college level with two individual medley wins and the fifth-best 200-meter individual medley time in Ohio history.
Additionally, she is the only swimmer that has a top-10 time in the MAC this season for the 200-yard butterfly that does not represent Buffalo or Akron.
Emilia Lahtinen is closing in on the fastest time in Ohio history for the 200-yard breaststroke. She only had two first-place finishes in breaststroke during dual-meets, but the times have been improving each meet.
Van Lanen and Schlegel are two-thirds of Ohio’s freestyle group that will be challenging for a conference title along with Emily Zimcosky. She has wins in the 50-, 100-, 200- and 500-yard freestyle events, with four coming in the 200-yard race.
The results from the dual-meets were mixed for Ohio, with the meet coming down to the final event against Buffalo, who was second in the MAC Coaches’ Preseason Poll.
Ohio beat the two MAC teams it was supposed to beat — Ball State and Bowling Green — showing that it will be competing with the teams in the top half of the MAC rather than the bottom at the MAC Championships.
The focus will now be on training and tapering for the MAC Championships the Bobcats are hosting Feb. 21-24.
