Feb. 2, 2004
IOWA CITY, IA –
THIS WEEK – The University of Iowa men’s swimming team will host Northwestern at the UI Field House Pool in the annual Senior Meet.
LAST COMPETITION – Iowa defeated Missouri, in Columbia, last week (166-129). Leading the way for the Hawkeyes was junior Andrei Ciurca who took first in both the 100 and 200 backstroke. Iowa’s relay teams also had impressive performances by taking first in the two relay events. The 400 medley relay team swam a time of 3:23.29, which was its fastest of the season.
ON NORTHWESTERN — The Wildcats are ranked 15th in the nation and have a 6-3 overall record. They fell last week to ninth ranked Michigan at home, (165-133). Iowa competed against Northwestern earlier this season at the Purdue Invitational. The Hawkeyes finished one place behind the second place Wildcats in late November.
QUOTING COACH DAVEY – “We’re only a few weeks away from the Big Ten championships and we need to sharpen up our performances. We’ve done a good job this season. I was very happy with our swimming at Missouri. But, we’ve got to continue our improvement into the conference championships. If a swimmer doesn’t win a race, he needs to finish as high as possible. The difference in a winning meet, or moving up a place in the standings, could be as little as a swimmer moving from fourth to third in the standings.”
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.