Sept. 25, 2006
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THIS WEEK — The Iowa men and women’s swimming team will be hosting its annual Black and Gold meet. The meet kicks off the year with an intrasquad competition. The meet will start at Noon at the University of Iowa’s Fieldhouse Pool.
SEASON PREVIEW — As Head Coach Marc Long prepares for his second season at the helm of the combined men and women’s swimming team, he expects continued improvement and big things from his squad. In addition to returning a combined 26 letterwinners, a talented recruiting class provides high hopes for Long.
“We are excited about who we have coming back and about our incoming class from both a leadership and a performance standpoint,” said Long.
The men will be led by junior Dragos Agache, who qualified for the 100 and 200 breaststroke at last year’s NCAA Championships. Hawkeye captain Andrej Lenert, also a junior, will lead Iowa in the backstroke. Lenert led the team in both the 100 (51.28) and 200 (1:50.19) last season.
The women will be led by senior captain Robin Samples. Last year, the Des Moines native swam collegiate-bests in the 50 (23.88), 100 (52.58) and 200 (1:55.49) freestyle at the Big Ten Championships. Samples was named the Big Ten Swimmer of the Week February 7th, for her efforts against Northern Iowa. Fellow senior Emmy Haeger will be an important anchor for the Hawkeyes. Last season, Haeger led the team in the 100 (1:05.20) and the 200 (2:21.24) breaststroke, winning both events with collegiate best times versus 23rd ranked Minnesota; those times rank eighth and ninth, respectively on Iowa’s all-time best performers list. Haeger recorded 17 top-five finishes.
HEAD COACH Marc Long — Marc Long is in his third season as head coach for the University of Iowa swimming team, and his second as head coach of the combined program. In his first year at the helm of the combined program four student-athletes qualified for the NCAA Championships, and four school records were broken.
DIVING COACH Bob Rydze — Bob Rydze is in his 32nd 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 31 all-Americans, nine Big Ten and one NCAA Champion.