Dec. 1, 2003
THIS WEEK: The university of Iowa women’s swimming and diving team will travel to Ames, IA, Saturday, to take on the Iowa State Cyclones in a dual meet. The Hawkeyes defeated the Cyclones last year by a score of 170-130. Friday’s meet will begin at 1:00 p.m. at Beyer Pool.
LAST WEEK: The Hawkeyes finished sixth at the Minnesota Invitational on November 23 with a score of 302.50. The 400-free relay team placed fourth with a time of 3:34.30. Kelly Werner finished with the highest individual placing of the tournament receiving fourth in the 200-back with a time of 2:04.16.
QUOTING O’KEEFFE: “I expect a close meet, there’s an intense rivalry between us. We finished ahead of them at the Minnesota Invitational, it was good to get a look at what we’re going up against. It’s always different in a dual meet compared to a tournament setting. We always have a very competitive meet with Iowa State and I expect nothing less on Friday, it should be exciting.”
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.