Caspar Corbeau Gives Indiana Boost in National Title Bid
The Indiana men’s swim and dive team might lack the consistent track record of top-two finishes at the NCAA Championships. That would be Cal, the winner or runnerup at the meet every year since 2010, and Texas, with 11 such results in the last decade-and-a-half. But head coach Ray Looze has put his team into the top-five on many occasions over the last decade, and it has been clear since the fall that his 2024-25 team might be the best yet.
Six swimmers return to the team after scoring individual points at the 2024 NCAAs, led by 200 breaststroke Olympic finalist Josh Matheny and 200 freestyle Olympic semifinalist Rafael Miroslaw. A sprinter who represented the U.S. in Paris (Matt King) joins the team to provide a significant relay boost while Olympic semifinalist backstroker Miroslav Knedla joins the team. Zalan Sarkany, Owen McDonald and Brian Benzing transfer into the program after finishing top-two in an individual event last year. Sarkany was last year’s NCAA titlist in the 1650 free while Benzing is the top returning swimmer in the 100 breaststroke.
Not to mention 121 returning diving points from Carson Tyler, a two-time winner at last year’s national meet, plus Quentin Henninger and Maxwell Weinrich both coming off second-place finishes.
Yes, we’re aware of the bona fides of Longhorns Hubert Kos and Luke Hobson plus breakout star Rex Maurer. Surely Destin Lasco and Jack Alexy will have something special in store for their final NCAA Championships. Looze knows it, too, and he still has plenty of reason to be confident in his team’s ability to stack up when titles are on the line in two months.
And with the arrival of Caspar Corbeau, the Olympic bronze medalist in the 200 breaststroke, the Hoosiers are capable of amassing more than 80 points between the 100 and 200-yard events of that stroke. Matheny, Benzing and Jassen Yep combined for 48 last year, and that was with Matheny’s disqualification in the prelims of the 200 for a one-hand touch. Corbeau only made his Indiana debut this month, but he achieved multiple top-two finishes on the national level during his time at Texas, and he has shown considerable improvement in his international results since then.
Imagine if Indiana could score 200 national points between only breaststroke and diving — only six teams eclipsed that total for the entire meet last year. That would give the Hoosiers a legitimate chance at winning the whole thing.
Here’s how Indiana currently stacks up in the national rankings, with at least one swimmer ranked in the top-16 in every event aside from the 50 free:
- Owen McDonald: 200 back – 2nd (1:38.07); 200 IM – 2nd (1:40.86); 100 back – 5th (44.93); 400 IM – 14th (3:41.69)
- Josh Matheny: 200 breast – 2nd (1:50.31); 100 breast – 9th (51.15)
- Jassen Yep: 200 breast – 4th (1:50.71); 100 breast – 16th (51.59)
- Zalan Sarkany: 1650 free – 5th (14:37.49); 500 free – 9th (4:12.56)
- Caspar Corbeau: 200 breast – 6th (1:51.65); 100 breast – 15th (51.49)
- Brian Benzing: 100 breast – tied for 6th (51.03)
- Finn Brooks: 100 breast – 8th (51.13); 100 fly – 12th (45.15)
- Rafael Miroslaw: 200 free – 11th (1:31.94); 100 free – 15th (41.99)
- Tomer Frankel: 100 fly – 11th (45.11)
- Toby Barnett: 400 IM – 11th (3:41.41)
- Luke Barr: 200 IM – 12th (1:41.91)
- Miroslav Knedla: 100 back – 15th (45.27); 200 back – 15th (1:39.88); 200 IM – 16th (1:42.44)
Of course, everything comes down to how the top teams perform in late March in Federal Way, Wash., and we know the track record of the co-favorites: Cal is traditionally team who overperforms the most at the national meet while Texas coach Bob Bowman had his Arizona State Sun Devils ready to seize their title chance a season ago. If Indiana can show up at full strength, expect a three-team title battle coming down to the final day.
