Hawkeyes To Compete At Northwestern and Illinois-Chicago

Jan. 23, 2006

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THIS WEEK — The Iowa men and women’s swimming team will be competing at Northwestern on Friday and at Illinois-Chicago Saturday. The meet with Northwestern is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the Norris Aquatics Center and with Illinois-Chicago at 1 p.m. in the Flames Natatorium.

ON NORTHWESTERN — The Wildcat women are 4-5 (1-4 Big Ten). They have defeated Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Michigan State, Miami (Fl) and North Carolina State. They also placed first at the NU Relays and fifth at the Boilermaker Invitational.
The Wildcat men are 4-3 (2-2 Big Ten) with wins over Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Notre Dame. They have placed first at the NU Relays, third at the Purdue Invitational and second in the Dallas Morning News Meet.

ON ILLINOIS-CHICAGO — The Flames women are 4-4 with wins over Eastern Illinois, Butler, Western Illinois and Valparaiso. They placed fifth at the NU Relays, third in a triangular with Illinois State and Ball State and fourth in the Bill Ritter Invitational.
The Flames men are 6-2-1 with wins over Eastern Illinois, Butler, St. Louis, Western Illinois, Valparaiso and Ball State. They tied Wisconsin-Milwaukee and fell to Wright State and Wisconsin-Green Bay. They also placed second at the NU Relays and the Bill Ritter Invitational.

THE LAST TIME… — The Hawkeye women last faced Northwestern in January 2005. The Wildcats won 268-131 in Iowa City. The Hawkeyes trail the all-time series 4-3.
The last time the men competed against Northwestern was February 2005 at Evanston. The `Cats won 171-131. The Hawkeye men lead the all-time series 36-24-1.
This will be the first time either the Iowa men and women will compete against Illinois-Chicago.

LAST COMPETITION — The men and women’s swimming competed Saturday, January 21 at home against Missouri and Illinois. The men fell to the Tigers 177-108 and are now 3-4 (0-2 Big Ten). The women fell to Missouri 178-117 and to Illinois 169-130 and are now 5-5 (0-3 Big Ten).
Senior Trevor Haley finished strong in the Fieldhouse pool by winning the 200 butterfly (1:52.97) and the 200 individual medley (1:55.30). Sophomore Dragos Agache also won two events; the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Freshman Nick Divan placed first in the 1,000 freestyle (9:34.04) and second in the 500 freestyle (4:38.87).
Senior Kelly Werner again led the Hawkeye women with a first in the 100 backstroke (57.09) and second in the 100 butterfly (57.38) and the 200 individual medley (2:08.77). Freshman diver Meghan Sievertsen was third in one-meter diving (226.95) and fifth in three-meter diving (226.25). Fellow freshman Alison Gschwend came in third in the 100 backstroke (58.82) and second in the 200 backstroke (2:05.11). Senior Andrea Hemphill was third in the 200 butterfly (2:07.18), fifth in the 100 butterfly (58.81) and fourth in the 200 individual medley (2:09.37).

HEAD COACH Marc Long — Marc Long is in his second season as head coach for the University of Iowa women and first for the men. He served two seasons as the Iowa women’s assistant coach (2003-04) before taking over. He also served as a Hawkeye men’s assistant from 1998-2001.

DIVING COACH Bob Rydze — Bob Rydze is in his 31st year as diving coach of the men and women’s teams at the University of Iowa. He is dean of Big Ten swimming and diving coaches. During his tenure with the Hawkeyes, Rydze has coached 29 all-Americans, nine Big Ten and one NCAA Champion.

FIELDHOUSE POOL — Iowa’s Fieldhouse Pool was built in 1927 and was, at the time, the world’s largest indoor swimming pool. In 1979, the pool underwent a $400,000 renovation. Diving platforms were added in 1980. The pool is 150 feet long and 60 feet wide, with eight lanes. Diving facilities include a pair of one and three meter springboards, plus five and ten meter platforms.