Jan. 13, 2009
THIS WEEK — The Iowa men and women’s swimming and diving teams return from their winter training trip in Miami, FL, to travel to Macomb, IL, Friday. The Hawkeyes will take on Western Illinois at 4 p.m. at the Brophy Hall Pool. The Iowa women will continue competition Saturday, traveling to Champaign, IL, to take on Illinois. Saturday’s competition is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the Illinois Natatorium.
ON THE COMPETITION — The Western Illinois women are currently 2-3 while the men post a record of 2-1. The men and women most recently both finished fifth in the House of Champions meet Indianapolis, IN. During the two-day event, the Leathernecks and Westerwinds combined for 25 season-best individual performances and four season-best relay times. Divers Eric Campbell and Anthony Holzhauer took first (291.45) and second (283.40) in the 1-meter diving event.
The University of Illinois women are 4-0 in dual meet competition. The Fighting Illini prepare to host the Hawkeyes after finishing fourth in Bloomington, IN, at the Indiana Invitational on Jan. 10. Top finishes for Illinois came from senior Marissa Clapp and junior CeCe Marizu. Clapp finished third in the 200 breastroke in 2:18.80 while Marizu earned a sixth place finish in the 200 back (2:04.10).
LAST COMPETITION — The Hawkeye men and women finished strong during competition on their winter training trip to Miami, FL. The Hawkeye men took first in a tri-meet format, defeating 15th-ranked Purdue and Florida Atlantic University. The Hawkeye women posted a solid second place finish in a quad meet format ahead of Florida Atlantic University and Florida International University. The Iowa women scored 70 points, coming in behind Purdue’s 118 points.
Sophomore Conor Dwyer led the Iowa men with two individual first place finishes. Dwyer posted a winning time of 1:39.42 in the 200 free and captured the top spot in the 100 free (46.62). Dwyer also teamed up with Ryan Phelan, Richard Salhus and Duncan Partridge on the winning 200 free relay (1:24.66).
The Hawkeye women also posted strong times throughout the competition. Ashley Dell won the 1,000 free for Iowa, finishing the race in 10:21.92. Katarina Tour (100 breast – 1:05.73) and Christine Kuczek (100 free – 52.44) also took top spots in individual events.
HEAD COACH Marc Long — Marc Long is in his fifth season as head coach for the University of Iowa swimming program. It’s his fourth year as head coach of the combined programs. During his tenure as head coach of both programs, 10 school records have fallen and 39 Hawkeyes have provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. Long is assisted by Kirk Hampleman, Frannie Malone and Nathan Mundt.
DIVING COACH Bob Rydze — Bob Rydze is in his 34th year as diving coach of the Hawkeye men and women’s teams. Rydze returns to Iowa this season fresh from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, where he served as Team Leader for USA Diving. During his tenure with the Hawkeyes, Rydze has coached 31 all-Americans, nine Big Ten and one NCAA Champion.
CAMPUS RECREATION AND WELLNESS CENTER — Ground was broken for the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center in October, 2007. The facility 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.
IOWA SWIMMING HISTORY & 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.
NEXT COMPETITION — The Hawkeyes will return home to host the Northwestern Wildcats on Saturday, Jan 24th. The competition is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at the Field House Pool. Admission to the event is free.