Oct. 22, 2007
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IOWA CITY, IA
THIS WEEK — The Iowa men and women’s swimming and diving teams will continue the Big Ten swimming season when the Michigan State Spartans come to Iowa City. The meet will begin Friday at 5 p.m. in the Fieldhouse Pool.
LAST WEEK — The Iowa men and women’s swimming and diving team opened up the home season last week against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. The Hawkeye men lost 180.5-113.5 while the women were upended 179-111. Currently, the Gopher men are ranked 10 nationally, and the Gopher women are ranked 21st. The loss dropped both teams to 0-2 (0-2 Big Ten). The men were led by sophomore Wil Whaley who picked up Iowa’s only victory of the contest in the 200 backstroke (1:51.68). Senior Dragos Agache added two second place finishes in the 100 (57.01) and 200 (2:09.68) breaststroke. Sophomore diver Frank Van Dijkhuizen performed well and did his part to help the Hawkeyes sweep all four diving events. He won the one-meter diving (287.93) as well as the three-meter diving (327.15) competition. Winning the one-meter diving competition for the women was sophomore Deidre Freeman (253.20). Freshman Veronica Rydze took home first place in the three-meter diving competition (236.55).
The women’s swimming team was unable to get a first place finish, but did end up with nine seconds. Freshman Kelsie Neubauer was good for second place in the 200 freestyle (1:55.84), the 200 IM (2:09.82) and the 400 freestyle relay (3:33.84). Two others helped the Hawkeyes with two second place finishes, both in the 400 freestyle relay and the 100 freestyle for sophomore Christine Kuczek (53.14) and the 200 backstroke for junior Alison Gschwend (2:06.04).
ON MICHIGAN STATE — The Michigan State women’s swimming team comes in to the meet against Iowa with a 1-0 (1-0 Big Ten) record after a 157-141 season opening victory over Illinois last week. The Spartan men have yet to compete and will open their season at Iowa City on Friday.
THE LAST MEETING — Last year the Iowa men and women’s swimming team traveled to East Lansing, MI. The men pulled off victory by a final tally of 152-148, but the women lost of 159.5-140.5. The Hawkeyes won five individual events including the 100 and 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 500 free, and 200 back. All of these victories were won by swimmers competing this year. The women took home individual titles in the 100 and 200 breast, 1,000 freestyle, 200 butterfly, 100 freestyle, 100 butterfly. Iowa also won both the men and women’s 400 medly relay and 200 freestyle relay.
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 the groundbreaking ceremony last week, the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center will soon be under construction and 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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