Indiana University with a strong Contingent Competing and Coaching at the Paris Olympics
Twenty Indiana University athletes and coaches will participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Indiana has tied its second-largest group of Olympians all-time, having produced 20 Olympians in 1976 and a record 23 in 1968. Hoosiers will represent nine different countries, marking a school record. The 2024 Paris Games will officially kick off with the opening ceremony this afternoon at 1:30pm Bloomington Time with IU athletes competing starting tomorrow. NBC and Peacock will provide live video coverage throughout the Olympics. Stay tuned to IUHoosiers.com/Olympics for full coverage of IU athletes in Paris, including feature stories, recaps and athlete schedules. IU is represented in five unique sports, including, for the first time ever, open water swimming. Within that, four different IU athletic programs produced Olympians – 17 from swimming and diving (13 swimming, four diving), two from water polo and one from track and field.
Ten Hoosiers will represent Team USA in France, Indiana’s largest contribution to the U.S. Olympic Team since Seoul 1988. All 10 Team USA Hoosiers emerge from the IU swimming and diving program – five swimmers, three divers and two coaches. Indiana has produced a U.S. Olympic diver at every Summer Games since 1964. Tokyo 2020 medalists Andrew Capobianco and Jessica Parratto return for their second and third Olympics respectively. Reigning NCAA Champion Carson Tyler is set to make his Olympic debut in the 3-meter and 10-meter competitions as the first U.S. male diver since 2000 to qualify in both events. The remaining 10 Hoosiers combine to represent eight more countries. For the first time ever, Indiana sends Olympians from the British Virgin Islands, Singapore, Lithuania and the Netherlands. IU athletes will also compete for Egypt, Germany, Israel and Canada. In addition to the 20 individuals that currently train or coach at Indiana University, or have graduated from IU, three more Olympians have cream and crimson ties. Swimmers Matt King (United States) and Zalán Sárkány (Hungary) are set to transfer into the IU program following their summer in Paris.
U.S. Olympic Diving head coach Drew Johansen will be joined on deck by Jenny Johansen, named an assistant coach by USA Diving. Jenny Johansen is a two-time Olympian, coach at the Johansen Diving Academy at IU and Parratto’s personal coach. Together, the Johansens become the first married pair to coach U.S. diving together at an Olympic Games. Eleven Hoosier Olympians have previous Olympic experience. Drew Johansen leads the way, coaching his fourth consecutive Summer Games. Five more Hoosiers will attend their third Olympics, including Lilly King, Ray Looze, Parratto, Blake Pieroni and Marwan Elkamash (all swimming and diving), who became the first Egyptian swimmer to qualify for three consecutive Olympics. King announced prior to U.S. Olympic Swim Trials that the Paris Games will be her final cycle. Nine Hoosiers – Rikkoi Brathwaite (track and field), Cory Chitwood, Mariah Denigan, Ching Hwee Gan, Josh Matheny, Rafael Miroslaw, Anna Peplowski, Carson Tyler and Kai van Westering (swimming and diving) – will participate in their first Olympics. Few universities, or even nations, can match Indiana University’s Olympic record. Indiana boasts 261 total Olympic berths, representing 30 countries. On 21 occasions, Olympic coaches have come from Indiana. The Indiana University athlete medal count is at 121 including 60 gold, 23 silver and 38 bronze after the 2020 Tokyo Games. The Hoosiers have earned a medal at every Olympic Games they have competed in except 2004. IU’s most productive year was 1968, with 17 medals for IU competitors in Mexico City.
Indiana State University Swimmer Chloe Farro to Carry the Flag for Aruba during the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics
Indiana State rising senior swimmer Chloe Farro was named a flag bearer for her home country of Aruba at the 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony which will happen this afternoon at 1:30PM Terre Haute Time. Farro becomes the first Sycamore athlete, past or present, to be selected as their nation’s flag bearer since wrestler Bruce Baumgartner carried the United States of America flag in the Opening Ceremony of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games. “It’s an honor to be at the Olympics representing Aruba but being the flag bearer elevates the honor to a whole other level,” Farro said. “I am so grateful that I was chosen to bear our flag in front of thousands of people. I’m happy that I get to put our little island’s flag out there on the world’s biggest athletic stage.” Farro qualified for the 50-meter freestyle swimming event as the Savaneta, Aruba native is scheduled to make her Olympic debut on August 3rd with the prelims scheduled to be held inside the Paris La Defense Arena, starting at 5 am Terre Haute time. Farro is one of three Sycamores to compete in the 2024 Olympic Games. Joining the Sycamore swimmer include alums Erin Reese (women’s hammer throw) and Mary Theisen-Lappen (women’s weightlifting) who trains and lives in Bloomington, Indiana. ISU track & field alumnus Noah Malone will also be competing for Team USA at the 2024 Paris Paralympic Games in multiple events.
Rhett Lewis will not be a Color Analyst for the Indiana University Football Radio Network for the 2024 Season
Former Indiana Wide Receiver and NFL Network broadcaster Rhett Lewis is stepping down from his color analyst post on IU football radio broadcasts after two seasons. Indiana has not yet announced a replacement to join legendary play-by-play man Don Fischer, who is set to enter his 52nd season on the microphone. This season Lewis will be an on-field reporter for the Big Ten Network, the network said in a release. Lewis replaced Buck Suhr, who announced his retirement following the 2021 season.
Lewis uses his middle name as his last name now. He played at IU as Rhett Kleinschmidt. He was a kick holder and a reserve receiver for the Hoosiers from 2001 to 2005 while earning a sports communication degree. One of his best games came against Michigan, when he set career-highs for catches (two) and yards (28). Lewis has a long family history with IU. His father, Dean Kleinschmidt, served as Indiana’s head football trainer from 2004-06. Dean was a head trainer in the NFL for 41 seasons – 31 with the New Orleans Saints, two with the Washington Redskins, and eight with the Detroit Lions. Dean also was a student trainer during IU’s 1967 Big Ten-title winning season that culminated in the 1968 Rose Bowl. A 1970 IU graduate, Dean is in the National Athletic Trainers Association Hall of Fame and the New Orleans Saints Hall of Fame. Indiana opens the 2024 season on August 31 against Florida International.
Indiana University Football Head Coach Curt Cignetti shows his confidence during Big Ten Football Media Days While Washington Head Coach Jedd Fisch answered questions from media on the main podium at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Curt Cignetti gathered himself for his turn on stage. The lights were bright, and the scene was big at Big Ten Media Days. Cignetti had a loaded day ahead of him with various interviews, press conferences, and other media work. And he capitalized on one of the fleeting free moments he had. As Fisch spoke, Cignetti paced around the turf behind the stage aimlessly, by himself. He seemed to use those few minutes to get in the right headspace to speak in front of the large group of media gathered in Indianapolis. And when Fisch’s press conference ended and he walked off stage, Cignetti was there to greet him with an immediate handshake. That wasn’t common behavior among the other coaches who appeared on Thursday. Some hadn’t even emerged from the tunnel by that point before their press conference. Others remained stationary and chatted with their SIDs next to the stage.
And from the moment he took the stage, Cignetti was his usual self: overflowing in his style of snarky bravado. He’s not afraid to throw his successful track record in people’s faces. He’s heard all too much about Indiana football’s troubled history, and he’s supremely confident he has the secret recipe to get the Hoosiers humming. “Normally at these things, I stand up here and we’re picked to win the league. It’s just usually how it’s been. I have been picked next-to-last twice. We’re picked 17th out of an 18-team league, and I get it. The two times we were picked next to last, in 2022, we won the conference championship, and in 2017 we inherited an 8-45 team and won eight in a row and played JMU the last game of the year for the conference championship,” Cignetti said. “Now, I’m not into making predictions, that’s just a historical fact. I know you guys have been waiting for me to say something crazy. That wasn’t quite crazy.”
Cignetti has talked like that since his first day in Bloomington, when he boldly shared his vision for the program during his introductory press conference — and later produced a viral moment at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall by dissing Purdue, Michigan, and Ohio State. He’s made clear that he isn’t trying to be disrespectful towards opponents, instead trying to generate buzz around his football program. Sure, he may go a step too far sometimes — a diminished filter that Cignetti said comes with age. But a lot of Cignetti’s character seems calculated, whether to excite fans, motivate players, or encourage donors or whatever other audience he has. “I’ve kind of had to speak a big game taking over a job like this because we had to wake some people up and create some excitement. And after all, this is the entertainment business too,” Cignetti said. “It’s coaching, but it’s entertainment.”
By all accounts, Cignetti is just wired with this confidence. His energy and bold personality never shut off. He’s like this all the time. And it rubs off on his players. When he goes out in the media and makes brash comments, IU players see the clips and spread them around their group chats. It fires them up. “The thing with coach Cig and how contagious his attitude and his self-belief is, it’s huge for our team. We have a guy that’s going out there and he believes so highly in himself just because of the way he prepares himself. So that kind of leads into us,” said linebacker Aiden Fisher, who played for Cignetti the last two seasons at JMU. “And we believe so much in ourselves and what we can do because we have the guy at the head of it who’s taking care of things on the back end to where there’s nothing that we’re not prepared for. It’s because he’s taking care of those things behind the scenes.”
Cignetti’s persona has worked as intended through the offseason. IU fans have exuded the excitement he’s wanted. He said the response has been positive around Bloomington. He’s more than talked the talk for the last eight months. His confidence will be put to the test when fall camp begins next week. Words don’t win football games, which is clearly what Cignetti all about. Indiana will need its play to back up its coach’s conviction. It could work out, and it could fall spectacularly flat. But if nothing else, he’ll make sure it’s entertaining. As a new IU football season dawns, this much is clear: the energy around IU football is noticeably changed. “With coach Cignetti and the confidence, he brings to this program, this community, I think the fans are getting behind him and us, and I think that’s what we needed,” offensive lineman Mike Katic said. “We needed some support — not that we don’t get the support from the fans and the community, but it’s feeling different this year.”
Indiana Pacers Re-Sign Forward James Johnson for the Fifth Time since September 2022
The Indiana Pacers re-signed free agent forward James Johnson, a source confirmed to IndyStar. He is receiving a one-year $3.3 million deal, according to ESPN. It’s the fifth time the Pacers have signed Johnson, 37, since Sept. 2022. The 6-7, 240-pound power forward appeared in just 9 games and a total of 47 minutes, averaging .9 points per game, but his primary contributions are not on the court. Johnson is valued for his veteran presence and physical presence. The Athletic did an anonymous player survey in 2023 and one of the questions was which player they would least like to fight, Johnson was the player most frequently mentioned earning 41.1% of the vote.
Johnson didn’t begin the 2023-24 season in the NBA, but he was re-signed by the Pacers in December after the team had a scuffle over game balls with the Milwaukee Bucks after Giannis Antetokounmpo set the Bucks’ franchise scoring record with 64 points. Coach Rick Carlisle said — and Johnson confirmed at the time — that the plans to bring Johnson back had already been put into motion. Johnson met with Carlisle and other team officials in Miami where Johnson lives when the Pacers played the Heat on a two-games-in-three-days trip on from Nov. 30-Dec. 2. Johnson had to be waived on Jan. 17 as part of the trade that brought in All-Star forward Pascal Siakam from the Raptors. To make the deal work under CBA rules, the Pacers took guard Kira Lewis Jr. in a trade from New Orleans and had to briefly place him on the roster before sending him to Toronto, which required releasing Johnson. Johnson signed two 10-day contracts before signing a year-ending deal on Feb. 8.
Johnson was drafted by the Bulls out of Wake Forest with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2009 draft and has spent 15 years in the league with 10 different teams. Though he has appeared in just 27 games in two seasons with the Pacers, he’s averaging 7.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists for his career. His best season came in 2016-17 with the Heat when he averaged 12.8 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game, finishing fifth in the Sixth Man of the Year balloting and sixth in the Most Improved Player balloting that year. He played with the Mavericks under Rick Carlisle in the 2020-21 season, endearing himself enough to the coach for him to push to add him to the roster in 2022-23. The Pacers waived him that season as well when they acquired guard George Hill, forward Jordan Nwora and center Serge Ibaka from the Bucks in a multi-team deal in February of 2023, but Ibaka was waived shortly after the trade was completed and Johnson was re-signed to take his spot.
Johnson’s signing gives the Pacers 15 players under full-time NBA contracts for the 2024-25 season. They re-signed free agent forwards Pascal Siakam and Obi Toppin to four-year contracts — Siakam’s for approximately $189 million and Toppin’s for $60 million. Center Jalen Smith declined his player option, but the Pacers replaced him at center by signing James WIseman for two years. Second-round pick Johnny Furphy signed a four-year rookie scale contract. Forward Kendall Brown is under contract, though it is not guaranteed at all unless he is still on the roster on opening day. The Pacers are expected to put second-round picks Tristen Newton and Enrique Freeman on two-way contracts, leaving one available. Guard Quenton Jackson and center Oscar Tshiebwe, who were both on two-way contracts last season, are restricted free agents but both played with the Pacers’ NBA Summer League team. Guard Isaiah Wong, who was on a two-way contract last year, was not tendered a qualifying offer and played for the Phoenix Suns in Summer League.
Portland Timbers Acquire Former Indiana University Men’s Soccer Player Mason Toye from CF Montreal
The Portland Timbers have acquired forward Mason Toye from CF Montreal, the club announced Tuesday. The Timbers acquired Toye in exchange for their second-round pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft. Toye is expected to play for the Timbers through the 2024 season with a club option for 2025. Toye, 25, spent five seasons with CF Montreal, posting 13 goals and two assists in 64 appearances (13 starts), dating back to 2020. Toye scored a career-high seven goals during the 2021 season, which helped the team win the 2021 Canadian Championship. “Mason is a player that we’ve known about for a long time with the profile that we were looking for,” Timber’s head coach Phil Neville said in a statement. “He brings good experience and will provide us depth with competition in the forward line.” As part of the trade, Montreal will receive a conditional $200,000 in 2025 General Allocation Money if certain performance metrics are reached, or certain contractual obligations are met. Toye played one season at Indiana University in 2017 scoring 10 goals in 25 games was named Big Ten Freshman of the Year and Big Ten First Team leading the Hoosiers to the 2017 College Cup Final in a 1-0 loss to Stanford. Toye was taken 7th overall by Minnesota United in the 2018 MLS Superdraft.
Indiana University Football Head Coach Curt Cignetti shows his confidence during Big Ten Football Media Days While Washington Head coach Jedd Fisch answered questions from media on the main podium at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Curt Cignetti gathered himself for his turn on stage. The lights were bright, and the scene was big at Big Ten Media Days. Cignetti had a loaded day ahead of him with various interviews, press conferences, and other media work. And he capitalized on one of the fleeting free moments he had. As Fisch spoke, Cignetti paced around the turf behind the stage aimlessly, by himself. He seemed to use those few minutes to get in the right headspace to speak in front of the large group of media gathered in Indianapolis. And when Fisch’s press conference ended and he walked off stage, Cignetti was there to greet him with an immediate handshake. That wasn’t common behavior among the other coaches who appeared on Thursday. Some hadn’t even emerged from the tunnel by that point before their press conference. Others remained stationary and chatted with their SIDs next to the stage.