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Few collegiate swim meets are filled with as much talent as the Big Ten Championships, and this year is no exception.  During the regular season, many Big. Ten swimmers have posted times that are among the nation's best, and more national qualifying times are sure to be set this weekend when the Men's Swimming and Diving Championships are hosted by Indiana University.  There have been over 75 times posted by Big Ten swimmers that are at qualified at least provisionally for the NCAA Championships, and seven teams ranked in the CSCAA Top 25.  This year's field is as strong as ever, and will again prove to be one of the marquee swimming events in the country.

It will be difficult to match last year's excitement, as the team championship came down to the final race and Minnesota edged Indiana by three points to take home the 2005 title.  But this year the No. 11 Hoosiers will be on their home turf and will have to fend off No. 7 Michigan and No. 15 Northwestern, who finished third and fourth, respectively, last year. No. 9 Minnesota will hope to repeat, with No. 14 Purdue, No, 18 Ohio State and No. 25 Penn State all vying for the team championship.

Freestyle
The freestyle events will be some of the most anticipated of the championship weekend, and are as filled with talent as any meet in the country.  The sprints will feature Matt Grevers, a junior from Northwestern who is the reigning champion in the 50-yard, and has posted the best time in the conference so far this season in the 100-yard.  He has already met B-standard qualification for this year's NCAA Championships in both events, and will be the top contender to win both at the Big Ten Championships, and potentially break his own championships records of 19:98 in the 50-yard and 42.72 in the 100-yard.  Not far behind him will be teammate Kyle Bubolz, a sophomore, who finished second in the 50-yard freestyle last year. 

The pair will have their work cut out for them in the 50-yard, however, with all of the top five finishers from 2005 returning, and six swimmers who have already provisionally qualified for nationals in the event.  Two of their biggest threats will be Minnesota's Igor Cevensek and Alesandro Volcansek, who finished in a tie for third place in 2005, and have both already hit B-standard NCAA qualification marks this season. 

The sprint events have nothing on the mid-distance events, with many the 200-yard freestyle participants being among the best in the country.  Eleven Big Ten swimmers have already provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships, with five posting times that are in the top 10 nationally this season.  Michigan's tandem of Peter Vanderkaay and David Tarwater have both met A-standard qualifications, and have the second- and third-fastest times in the country this season.  Joining them with A-qualification is Indiana junior Collin Russell, who took second in the event last season, and will be looking for gold in his home pool this time around.  Michigan's Chris DeJong and Grevers hold the ninth- and 10th-best time in the country, respectively, and will challenge for a place on the podium. 

Peter Vanderkaay also will be hoping to break his own Big Ten Championships record in the 500-yard freestyle.  He already holds the nation's second-best time of the season, and has already qualified for the NCAAs with an A-standard time of 4:12:35.  The field in this event is deep, however, with nine others setting B-standard marks, including Peter Vanderkaay's teammates Matt Patton, DeJong and Alex Vanderkaay.  Indiana's Sergyi Fesenko and Minnesota's Travis Beckerle also have top-25 times. 

In the long-distance free style, it is again Peter Vanderkaay setting the standard.  With the second-best time in the NCAA this year, he is also the two-time defending Big Ten Champion in the 1,650-yard event.  He and Patton have both met A-standards this season, followed by Fesenko, Beckerle and Indiana's Alex Brunfeldt with B-standard times.  Penn State freshman David Kraft has had strong finishes in the dual meets throughout the latter part of the regular season, and will also be among medal contenders.

In the team freestyle events, Minnesota has set the regular season standard in the Big Ten by posting the fourth best time in the NCAA in 2005-06 in the 200-yard relay.  Michigan and reigning champion Northwestern also have top-10 times, with Ohio State at No. 15 and just shy of B-standard qualification.  The Wildcats set a new conference record last year in their victory. The 800-yard relay also features some of the top swimmers in the country, as a dominant Michigan team has by far the best time in the country on the season, and is the only team to have exceeded A-standard time for the NCAA Championship. The field is deep in the event, however, with Minnesota, Northwestern, Wisconsin and Ohio State all with times that fall in the top-15 nationally.

Individual Medleys
The 200-yard individual medley, a true test of a swimmer's versatility, will likely be a battle for the top spot between Northwestern's Mike Alexandrov and Minnesota's Adam Mitchell, who finished in second and third place respectively in last year's championships.  Alexandrov will be looking for a bit of redemption after finishing second by a margin of just 9/100ths of a second behind the winner, and Mitchell touched the wall just behind him.  This season in the 400 IM, Mitchell hit the A-standard qualification into the NCAA Championships with the second-best time in the nation.  He also posted the fourth-best time in the 200 IM, which is also good enough for A-standard qualification.  Joining him at the top of the ranks in the 200-yard is Ohio State junior Nate King, with Alexandrov rounding out the top 10 national times this season.  Peter Vanderkaay is also in the top four nationally this season in the 400 IM, and is provisionally qualified for nationals along with his teammate and brother, Alex.  Romain Maire of Purdue rounds out the swimmers who already have already earned a chance to represent the Big Ten at the NCAA Championships. 

Medley Relays
The top butterfliers, backstrokers, breaststrokers and freesylists from each school will combine compete in a very talented field in the 200-yard medley relay.  Northwestern is the reigning Big Ten Champion in both the 200- and 400-yard relays  The event will feature four teams who have finished with top-10 national times already on the year, and will be looking to break records at this year's Big Ten Championships.  Minnesota, Indiana, Northwestern and Ohio State each post times that are in the top 10 in the country, and have hit B-standard times.  Michigan and Michigan State have both set top 20 times, and an experienced Penn State team will be right among the contenders as well.

The 400-yard version of the event will be just as competitive.  Northwestern has posted the best time in the conference thus far in 2005-2006, but has just a slight edge over Michigan and Ohio State.  Minnesota rounds out the Big Ten contingent in the top 10, with all four teams earning B-standard qualification. 

Butterfly
Defending champion and Big Ten record holder, Kyle Bubolz set the conference standard last year as a freshman with an astounding time of 46.46 to edge out Tarwater in the 100-butterfly finals.  This year, Bubolz's teammate, Grevers, has the time to beat in the conference.  Grevers and Tarwater are the two Big Ten swimmers who have met A-standards in the event, with Bubolz and Ohio State's Joe Doyle right on their tail with B-standards. 

It is Tarwater though, who has the edge in the 200-yard butterfly.  As the defending Big Ten Champion, Tarwater has the best time in the country this season with a mark of 1:43.93, which he set in early December.   His teammate, Alex Vanderkaay set a personal best in the event by finishing third and this season holds a time that is good enough for sixth-best in the NCAA and B-standard qualification.  Wisconsin's Scott Rice, also a provisional qualifier, should also challenge for a medal in the event.

Breaststroke
Northwestern's Alexandrov stars in the medley events, but specializes in the breaststroke events.  This season, the defending 100-yard champion has an A-standard time in the event and B-standard time in the 200-yard breast.  He did not compete in last year's 200-yard championships, despite having the best time in the conference during the regular season.  Kevin Swander of Indiana took home last year's 200-yard title, and will look to do so again this season.  Purdue's Giordan Pojioli and Alexandrov rank two and three respectively in the country's best 200-yard times so far this year.  Michigan State's Ian Clutton, Pojioli and Swander all have exceeded B-standard times in the 100-yard.  Iowa's Dragos Agache, who placed well in the 2005 Championships in both the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke, will try to rise to the challenge again this year. 

Backstroke
It will be Grevers again who sets the pace in the 100-yard backstroke.  The defending champion and conference record holder won last year's event by almost a full second over his nearest competitor, and has met the A-standard mark this season.  It will be no easy task for Grevers with a field this deep.  DeJong, David Plummer (Minnesota), Indiana's Ben Hesen, King and Mitchell all have top-20 and B-standard times this season to challenge Grevers for the top position on the podium.

DeJong and Mitchell do have a slight edge on Grevers in the 200 backstroke.  DeJong was the 2005 Champion and set a Big Ten record at last year's NCAA Championship.  He has swum the second-fastest time this season while matching the A-standard, but Mitchell and Grevers have met that mark as well.  With B-standards time this year are King, Plummer, Maire and Ohio State's R.J. Lemyre.  Andrej Lenert of Iowa, who placed third in last year's 100- and 200-backstroke will hope for a repeat performance this year to gain some points for his team.

Diving
With the Big Ten Diver of the Year Marc Carlton's graduation last spring, a window was opened for fellow Hoosiers Ryan Fagan and Brian Mariano.  Mariano is the top returning diver from last year's championships, placing second in the one-meter and third in the three-meter.  Purdue's Steven LoBue is also poised to take one of the top spots on the platform and on three-meter springboard after strong finishes in both events in 2005.  Penn State's Adam Pierce has had a strong season in three-meter as well.

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