5 Things to Know: Big Ten Championships

MADISON, Wis. — The No. 24-ranked Wisconsin women's swimming and diving team is set to compete in the 2019 Big Ten Championships this Wednesday through Saturday at the Counsilman Billings Aquatics Center in Bloomington, Indiana. Five things to know before the meet are below.

1. A Look Back: The Badgers finished fifth at last season's Big Ten championships, scoring 755 points behind a pair of titles from reigning Big Ten Swimmer of the Championships Beata Nelson in the 100-yard backstroke (51.05) and 200-yard backstroke (1:49.59).

But ask first-year head coach Yuri Suguiyama, and he'll say 755 points is a benchmark for the Badgers this go-around, not the ceiling.

"Going into Big Tens, there are two really big goals for the program," he said. "This first one is to try and score as many points and maximize our position in the conference. The women were fifth last year, but we're going to try and do a little bit better than that; if not place higher, than score more points than we did the prior season.

"The second goal is to qualify as many individuals and relays for NCAA championships in March."

2. Beata's Back: An All-American in the 100 back, 200 back and 200 individual medley a season ago, junior superstar Beata Nelson's brilliance this season has culminated in a collegiate, American and U.S. Open record in the 100 backstroke with a time of 49.67 seconds at December's Texas Hall of Fame Invitational.

Of the 10 sub-50 second swims ever recorded in the women's 100 backstroke, Nelson owns four.

"The thing about Beata is that she is incredibly consistent," Suguiyama said. "Regardless of what is going on in her day, she comes to the pool and the weight room and competes at a high level."

In addition to the 100 backstroke, the Verona Area High School product leads the nation this season in the 200 backstroke (1:49.10) and 200 individual medley (1:53.08).

3. Rankings Rundown: Wisconsin sits No. 24 in the College Swim Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) Top 25. No. 3 Michigan, No. 17 Indiana, and No. 22 Minnesota join the Badgers to give the Big Ten a total of four ranked squads

4. New Reigns:The Badgers enter the Big Ten championships for the first time under the leadership of head coach Yuri Suguiyama. Wisconsin's new-look coaching contingent also includes assistants Kristy Brager, Jennah Haney and Erik Posegay.

Assistant coach Neil Caskey and diving coach Anton Slobounov return for Badgers. This season marks Caskey's fourth and Slobounov's seventh year with Wisconsin.

5. Live Look: The entirety of the championships — including the daily 10 a.m. (CT) preliminary sessions and 5:30 p.m. finals sessions — will be streamed live via BTN Plus ($), which can be accessed at BTN2Go.com or on the BTN2Go mobile app on Apple and Android devices.

Live results from the meet can be found via the Meet Mobile app and on the schedule page at UWBadgers.com.

For additional updates, be sure to follow the Badgers on Twitter (@BadgerSwimDive) and Instagram (BadgerSwimDive).

5 Things to Know: Big Ten Championships

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Beata Nelson

University of Wisconsin Athletics