Nov. 17, 2003
THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s swimming and diving team will travel to Minneapolis, MN to compete in the Minnesota invitational. The three-day invitational will start Friday at noon, and continue through Sunday.
LAST WEEK
The Hawkeyes defeated Purdue November 7th, 154-144, coming back from a 32-4 defecit after the diving events. Junior All-American Jennifer Skolaski captured individual victories in the 100-back, 500-free, 200 IM. She also swam the first leg of victorious 400 medley relay. Kelly Werner came up big with a win in the 200-back, and also placed 2nd in the 100-back.
QUOTING O’KEEFFE
“We’ve gone up to the Minnesota Invitational every year and it’s always a fun trip. It’s sort of a dress rehearsal for the Big Ten Championships in February, which is hosted by Minnesota. It’s a three day invite, the same format as the Big Ten’s, so we get to get a feel for the place. We’re geared up and looking for some fast swims.”
O’KEEFFE ON HOOPER
“Christie has been training consistently well all year. I was really pleased on her performance at Purdue. She’s stepped up her performance quite a bit, and we’re looking for some good times from her this weekend.”
HEAD COACH
Garland O’Keeffe is in her third season as head coach of the Hawkeyes. She has a school and career record of 21-18, 8-13 in the Big Ten. O’Keeffe has coached three honorable mention all-Americans, three NCAA qualifiers and a Big Ten champion. The Hawkeyes have also shattered 19 school records in the last two years. O’Keeffe gained US National Team coaching experience over the summer when she was selected as an assistant coach for the National Team Distance Camp at the US Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs.
DIVING COACH
Bob Rydze is in his 28th year as diving coach of the men and women’s teams at the University of Iowa, and is the dean of Big Ten swimming and diving coaches. Rydze has coached three Olympians, Randy Ableman (United States), Ricardo Camacho (Spain) and Tomas Rossa (Poland). Rydze came to Iowa in 1975 from the Dad’s Club diving team in Houston, TX. He also coached at Eastern Michigan from 1971-73.