Oct. 15, 2007
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IOWA CITY, IA
THIS WEEK — The Iowa men and women’s swimming teams will continue the Big Ten swimming season when the Minnesota Golden Gophers come to Iowa City. The meet will begin Friday at 4:00 p.m. in the Fieldhouse Pool.
LAST WEEK — The Iowa men and women’s swimming team traveled to Madison, WI to open up the season against the Wisconsin Badgers. The Hawkeye men lost 175-125 while the women were upended 197-102. The men were led by senior Dragos Agache who picked up titles in the 100 and 200 breast. Freshman Conor Dwyer added two more victories in the 200 and 500 free. Sophomore diver Frank Van Dijkhuizen performed well taking a first place in the three meter diving competition.
The women were led by freshman Katarina Tour who, competing in her first collegiate meet, won titles in the 100 breast and the 200 IM. Sophomore Deidre Freeman turned in an outstanding performance, winning both the one and three-meter diving competion.
“They did a heck of a job for this early in the year,” said Head Diving Coach Bob Rydze, “I am very impressed, especially with Diedre [Freeman] who is only a sophomore, she has a real chance to be a national threat in a couple years.”
ON MINNESOTA — The Minnesota men’s swimming team, currently ranked 10th, is 0-1 after hosting eighth ranked Florida. The Gophers went down by a final score of 158-142. The Gopher women are also nationally ranked at number 21. They were also downed by the sixth ranked Gators last week by a score of 168-132.
THE LAST MEETING — Last year the Iowa men and women’s swimming team traveled to Minneapolis, MN. The men were beat by a final tally of 190-101, and the women lost by a score of 201-91. The Hawkeyes only picked up two event victories last year. Frank Van Dijkhuizen took home the one meter diving title and Laura Mozdzen won the 100 butterfly.
HEAD COACH Marc Long — Marc Long is in his fourth season as head coach for the University of Iowa swimming team. It’s his third year as head coach of the combined program. In his first two seasons at the helm of both programs, Long has seen six school records broken and 13 student-athletes qualify for the NCAA Championships.
DIVING COACH Bob Rydze — Bob Rydze is in his 33rd year as diving coach of the men and women’s teams at the University of Iowa. Rydze will serve as Team Leader for USA Diving at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. During his tenure with the Hawkeyes, Rydze has coached 31 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.
IOWA SWIMMING HISTORY AND TRADITION — Iowa was one of the first schools in the nation to compete on a collegiate level and competed at the first NCAA Championship. From 1937 to 1960, Iowa placed in the NCAA top ten 18 times, crowning nine NCAA and 22 Big Ten Champions.
CAMPUS RECREATION AND WELLNESS CENTER — With groundbreaking scheduled for this week, the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center will serve as the new home for Iowa Swimming and Diving upon completion in the fall of 2009. The facility will be at the corner of Burlington and Madison streets and is expected to cost $69 million.
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