Indiana State swims against Illinois State on October 9
Indiana State opens its 2026-27 swimming and diving regular season on Friday, October 9, hosting Illinois State at the Vigo County Aquatic Center in Terre Haute, Indiana. Competition begins at 6 p.m. ET, with live results available through MeetMobile, according to gosycamores.com.
The opening meet coincides with Indiana State’s Homecoming festivities, bringing a large group of alumni back to campus for the weekend. Head coach Josh Christensen said the program anticipates a high-energy environment against a conference opponent to start the year.
The schedule features a 16-event lineup starting with the 200-yard medley relay, followed by the 1000-yard freestyle, 200-yard freestyle, 100-yard backstroke, 100-yard breaststroke, 200-yard butterfly, and 50-yard freestyle. Diving events begin with the one-meter springboard ahead of the 100-yard freestyle, 200-yard backstroke, 200-yard breaststroke, 500-yard freestyle, 100-yard butterfly, and three-meter springboard. The meet concludes with the 200-yard individual medley and the 400-yard freestyle relay.
Indiana State enters the new season following an annual Blue-Gray intrasquad meet held on September 7 at the Vigo County Aquatic Center. The Blue Team secured a 135-134 victory that was decided in the final relay. Grace Cummings won the 1000 and 500-yard freestyles, Erin Cummins took the 200 and 100-yard freestyles, Lily Glasgow won the 100-yard breaststroke, Gemma Dilks claimed the 200-yard butterfly, and Anna Asplund won the 200-yard backstroke. The Gray Team swept both relays while receiving individual wins from Sara Keefe in the 100-yard backstroke, Rachel Stutz in the 50-yard freestyle, Eva Nordyke in the 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard individual medley, and Addison Johnson in the 100-yard butterfly. Jecza Lopez and Alessandra Mittelstadt swept the one-meter and three-meter springboard diving events respectively for the Gray Team.
The Sycamores’ upcoming schedule includes matches against opponents from the Southeastern Conference, including Missouri, Vanderbilt, and Arkansas, alongside Big Ten programs Purdue, Iowa, and Illinois. The team will also travel to the Hawkeye Invite hosted by Iowa in mid-November.
Last season, Indiana State successfully defended its Missouri Valley Conference title at the Deaconess Aquatic Center in Evansville, Indiana. The Sycamores scored 1,236 points across four days to finish ahead of Southern Illinois with 1,161 points and Missouri State with 1,117 points, capturing the second conference title in program history. Grace Cummings earned MVC Freshman Swimmer of the Year honors after winning the 500-yard and 1650-yard freestyle events, while Ali Pearson won the 100-yard breaststroke and the team secured the 200-yard medley relay title. Ten athletes earned MVC First Team honors, and another ten received Honorable Mention recognition.
Illinois State comes to Terre Haute after opening its regular season with a 187-69 dual meet victory over Quincy at Horton Pool, where the Redbirds won 12 individual events and both relays.