Iowa to Compete in Purdue Invitational

Nov. 17, 2003

THIS WEEK — The University of Iowa men’s swimming team will travel to West Lafeyette, IN Friday to compete in the eight-team Purdue Invitational.

LAST COMPETITION — Iowa competed in a triangular at South Bend, IN against Notre Dame, Louisville, and 18th ranked BYU. The Hawkeyes came away with three victories. They are currently 5-1, which is one of the best starts in school history. Iowa was led by junior Elliot Ptasnik, who had individual victories in the 100 and 200 breastroke.

HAWKEYES OFF TO STRONG START — Iowa is enjoying one of its best starts. That success is due to the overall team performances. The Hawkeyes’ 200 medley relay team is currently ranked fourth in the nation with a time of 1:30.59. The 400 freestyle relay group has posted a time of 3:03.07, which is good for 12th in the nation. Individually the Hawkeyes have eight swimmers in the top 30 of their respective events, and three are in the top 30 in two events. Freshman Mariusz Muras is ranked 15th in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:44.93, and 25th in the 100 butterfly with a time of 50.25.

HEAD COACH John Davey — Former Hawkeye all-American John Davey is in his fifth year as head swim coach. Davey is the only Big Ten athlete in any sport to ever be named conference Athlete of the Year in their sport four consecutive years. While at Iowa, Davey won 10 Big Ten titles and was a 10-time all-American.

DIVING COACH Bob Rydze — Bob Rydze is in his 29th year as diving coach of the men’s 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.

QUOTING DAVEY — “We’re off to a very good start. It’s still early and I’m hopeful that we’ll continue the improvement we’ve shown. We need to keep working and good things will happen. This is a very important competition for us. It will give us a good understanding of where we are right now.”