Big Ten Announces Women’s Swimming and Diving Postseason Awards

ROSEMONT, Ill. - The Big Ten Conference announced its 2025 Big Ten Women’s Swimming and Diving postseason award recipients on Thursday, as selected by the conference’s head coaches.

Indiana’s Anna Peplowski was named Swimmer of the Year, while teammate Skyler Liu was named Diver of the Year. Ohio State’s Mila Nikanorov was selected as this year’s Freshman of the Year. Indiana’s Ray Looze and Drew Johansen were named Swimming and Diving Coaches of the Year, respectively.  

Peplowski won Indiana’s first-ever freestyle NCAA championship in the 200 free and took bronze in the 500 free for the second-straight year, bringing her NCAA career medal total to four. Indiana earned a program record fourth place national finish.  

Peplowski won six medals at this year’s Big Ten Championships and medaled in all three of her individual events. The senior won the 500-yard freestyle in a Big Ten record time of 4:33.86 and took bronze in the 200 free and 100 free. Peplowski was a member of the gold medal 400 medley relay and the silver medal 200 and 400 freestyle relays.  

Liu earned a national title on platform and took bronze on the 3-meter springboard, picking up the first two NCAA medals of her career. For the second consecutive season, Liu won both the 3-meter and platform diving events at the Big Ten Championships. Liu was named the Big Ten’s Diver of the Championships.  

Nikanorov was named a First Team All-American in the 500 free at NCAA Championships, breaking an Ohio State program record twice. Nikanorov initially broke the 500 free record in prelims with a time of 4:37.10, earning her a spot in the evening’s A Final, where she finished sixth in a new record time of 4:36.38. Nikanorov also earned First Team All-American status in the 1,650 free. Nikanorov finished second in the 1,650 free at this year’s Big Ten Championships, helping the Buckeyes to their fifth Big Ten title in the past six years.  

Looze earns his seventh Swim Coach of the Year honor after guiding Indiana to its program-record finish at the NCAA Championships. Johansen was named Dive Coach of the Year for the second time in his career, the first being in 2022.