CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Fighting Illini swimming and diving team head to Iowa City, Iowa for the Big Ten Championships. The four-day event, hosted by the University of Iowa, is set to begin on Wednesday, February 19, and will conclude on Saturday, February 22. The Illini finished 13th at the event a year ago. 

The Orange and Blue will see competition from five teams that are currently ranked in the top-25 nationally (according to the CSCAA poll) including, No. 1 Michigan, No. 7 Ohio State, No. 16 Northwestern, No. 21 Indiana and No. 23 Minnesota. In the regular season, the Illini competed against Northwestern in a tri-dual meet with UIC. Illinois fell, 107-192, to the Wildcats.

The four-day meet will begin with relay events on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m. CT. On Thursday through Saturday, the teams will swim a preliminary session in the morning at 10 a.m. CT, with the championship session to follow at 6:30 p.m. CT.

A Year Ago

Illinois accumulated a point total of 190 a year ago in Bloomington, Ind., to place 13th at the event. The Illini had a number of highlights in the pool, including Aby Olson swimming the third-fastest 50 backstroke in program history, as well as the fastest 50 breaststroke split in school history, a lifetime best and a school record from Gabriele Serniute.

Former Illini diver Ling Kuhn came away with an impressive performance a year ago, after securing the second-best platform diving score in program history with a 272.00. Kuhn also finished eighth overall in the consolation finals of the one-meter dive (278.65) and placed 35th overall in the preliminary round of the three-meter diving competition (259.30).

Schedule of Events

Wednesday, Feb. 19 (5 p.m.)
200-yard Medley Relay (Heat 1 & Heat 2)
800-yard Freestyle Relay (Heat 1 & Heat 2)

Thursday, Feb. 20 (Preliminaries at 10 a.m., Finals at 6:30 p.m.)
500-yard Freestyle
200-yard Individual Medley
50-yard Freestyle
One-Meter Diving (1 p.m.)
400-yard Medley Relay (Heat 1 & Heat 2)

Friday, Feb. 21 (Preliminaries at 10 a.m., Finals at 6:30 p.m.)
100-yard Butterfly
400-yard Individual Medley
200-yard Freestyle
100-yard Breaststroke
100-yard Backstroke
Three-Meter Diving (1 p.m.)
200-yard Freestyle Relay (Heat 1 & Heat 2)

Saturday, Feb. 22 (Preliminaries at 10 a.m., Finals at 6:30 p.m.)
200-yard Backstroke
100-yard Freestyle
200-yard Breaststroke
200-yard Butterfly
Platform Diving (1 p.m.)
1,650-yard Freestyle (4:15 p.m.)
400-yard Freestyle Relay (Heat 1 & Heat 2)

Scoring Format
A Final Scoring: 32-28-27-26-25-24-23-22
B Final Scoring: 20-17-16-15-14-13-12-11
C Final Scoring: 9-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Relay Scoring: 64-56-54-52-50-48-46-44-40-34-32-30-28

Note: Only A & B finals (championship & consolation) will be contested in the diving events.

Watch the Championships 

The Big Ten Championships will be streamed live via BTN Plus on BTN2Go. Complimentary access to BTN2Go is available to viewers connected to the internet network of a Big Ten university. Fans elsewhere can sign up for the pay-per-view webcasts.

Follow the Illini 

Stay tuned to FIGHTINGILLINI.com for all the latest information on Fighting Illini Swimming and Diving. Follow the Orange and Blue on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for even more coverage.