March 8, 2005
THIS WEEK — The University of Iowa women’s diving team will compete at the NCAA Region C qualifying meet, Friday and Saturday, at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, IN. Competition is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Senior Lisette Planken and junior Nancilea Underwood will represent the Hawkeyes.
THE COMPETITION — Region C includes schools from the North Central United States: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, West Virginia and Wisconsin. Planken and Underwood will compete to be two of the 41 divers that qualify for the national championships.
Lisette Planken — Planken is a senior from Amersfoort, Netherlands. In one-meter diving, she has taken first in five meets and second twice this season. She also took top honors in the three-meter event three times, while placing second three times. Against Wisconsin, Planken set the University of Iowa record with a score of 326.55. She has been named Big Ten Diver of the Week once this season, and four times in her Hawkeye career. At the 2005 Big Ten Championships, Planken took fourth in the one-meter and sixth in the three-meter. She was granted an Olympic redshirt for the 2003-04 season, placing sixth on one-meter and 11th on three-meter at the European Championships and taking seventh on the one-meter at the World Championships. She also placed 21st on three-meter at the World Cup in Athens, Greece.
Nancilea Underwood — A junior from Spring, TX, Underwood garnered Big Ten Diver of the Week honors twice this season after taking first in two competitions and second twice on one-meter. She also took top honors on three-meter once, while taking second three times. Underwood holds the University of Iowa record of 348.25 on three-meter. At Big Ten’s, she took fifth on three-meter. Along with Planken, Underwood received an Olympic redshirt for the 2003-04 season. She placed fourth on three-meter at the U.S. Olympic team trials, and took fifth on three-meter at the U.S. World Cup trials. In 2003, Underwood was named an honorable mention all-American.
DIVING COACH Bob Rydze — Bob Rydze is in his 30th year as men and women’s diving coach at the University of Iowa. He is the dean of Big Ten swimming and diving coaches and an alum of the University of Maryland. He and his wife, Elaine, have three children, Bo, Robin and Veronica.