Indiana
senior Blake Pieroni didn’t become a world-class athlete accidentally.
But as the Olympic gold medalist and 2014 Chesterton graduate sees his college career coming to a close, he has taken his regimen to an even higher level.
Improved diet, further reducing his consumption of sugar and processed food and further emphasizing clean eating. Less stress with classes — he is a student-athlete, after all — and more sleep. Fine-tuned training.
Ahead of this week’s NCAA Championships after starring at last month’s Big Ten Meet, Pieroni believes he’s peaking physically and mentally.
“I’ve never really had a full season where I didn’t leave any stone unturned,” Pieroni said. “Senior year, my window was closing, I wanted to do everything possible to make this my best season.”
The Big Ten Meet at
Minnesota
‘s Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center fell into that category for Pieroni, who won a gold medal for the United States as part of the 400-meter freestyle relay at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
He won both the 100-yard freestyle (41.43) and 200 free (1:31.14) for the third straight time, setting school and Big Ten records in the 100 free and conference meet and pool records in the 200 free.
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He also was part of the winning 400 medley relay (3:01.30) that set school, conference and pool records; the winning 800 free relay (6:11.50) that set school and pool records; the winning 400 free relay (2:48.81); and the second-place 200 free relay (1:16.56).
The Hoosiers won their second consecutive team title, repeating for the first time since they won three in a row from 1983 to 1985.
“That’s huge,” Pieroni said. “I was happy with our performance in general. A lot of guys stepped up big time, scored better than they were projected and really sealed the meet for us.”
For the NCAA Championships, Pieroni is seeded second in the 200 free and fourth in the 100 free. Indiana has the top time in both the 400 medley and 800 free relays, sixth in the 400 free relay and eighth in the 200 free relay.
“The biggest positive, we have a lot of opportunities to win individual events and relays, the 400 medley relay,” Pieroni said.
Pieroni placed sixth in the 200 individual medley at the Big Ten Meet, but plans to compete in the 50 free instead in the NCAA Championshios, following that path for the second straight season.
He considers the 50 free, not the IM, his third-best event. And while the IM might help Indiana score more points in the conference meet, he thinks there’s more of a chance in the 50 free at nationals.
Pieroni and the No. 3 Hoosiers again have a goal to crack the top five in the team standings. They placed seventh last season, matching their best finish since 1979.
“Top five would be huge for the program,” Pieroni said.
The meet runs Wednesday through Saturday in Minneapolis.
“That (the Big Ten Meet) was my first time swimming in that pool, so the second time around, having raced in it before, I should be more comfortable,” Pieroni said. “One thing we noticed, it’s hot on the deck, warm — not insanely, but you notice, it’s something to be aware of.
“It’s a great facility, I like it a lot, a lot of deck space. We’re just excited to see what we can do.”
Twitter @MichaelOsipoff