Jan. 26, 2009
THIS WEEK – The Iowa men and women’s swimming and diving team will host their final home competition of the season for Senior Day this Saturday. The Hawkeyes will take on the Missouri Tigers at the Field House Pool and invite fans to participate in their Senior Day White Out to honor Iowa’s eight graduating seniors. Competition is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m.
ON THE COMPETITION – The 25th ranked Missouri men travel to Iowa City after having the week off. The Tigers most recently fell to two top ten teams at a tri-meet hosted by the University of Indiana on Jan. 17, 2009. Indiana bested the Missouri men with a final score of 239-61, while the Tigers fell to Ohio State 246-54.
Junior Martin Cernansky improved on his school record time in the 200 breast, taking second place in the event with a time of 1:59.00. Tiger senior Gilad Kaufman earned two fourth-place finishes in the 100 and 200 fly events for Missouri as well.
The Tiger women are 3-5 overall this season and boast a 2-1 record in Big 12 competition. Fresh from a home victory over Iowa State last weekend, Missouri will take on the Hawkeyes with a 6-4 series advantage.
The Tigers claimed first in the 200 medley relay to open the meet against the Cyclones. The foursome of sophomore Lauren Lavigna, sophomore Morgan McCleery, junior Colleen Gordon and freshman Lisa Nathanson won the event in 1:45.67. Continuing on with four straight individual event victories, the Tigers were able to keep up the momentum and defeat Iowa State 178-117.
LAST COMPETITION – The Iowa men and women hosted Big Ten opponent Northwestern for their final Big Ten dual meet of the season. The Hawkeye men (6-1, 4-1 Big Ten) came away with a huge win, defeating the Wildcats 171.5-128.5. The Iowa women (6-4, 2-4 Big Ten) battled hard but fell in an intense competition 192-99.
The Hawkeye men dominated both relay events. Matt Dittmer, Matt Ryan, James Dragon, and Duncan Partridge took first in the 200 medley relay (1:33.45) while Partridge, Paul Gordon, Ryan Phelan, and Conor Dwyer won the 400 free relay in 3:04.29. Dwyer also picked up first place finishes in the 200 free (1:37.37), 100 free (45.86), and the 200 IM (1:52.15).
The Iowa women swam hard against Northwestern. Katarina Tour earned a first place finish in the 200 IM for Iowa, touching the wall in 2:07.20. Teammate Julie Feingold came in behind Tour for a second place finish in the event, posting a time of 2:10.31. Deidre Freeman and Veronica Rydze dominated the boards for the Hawkeyes. Rydze took first in the three-meter event with a score of 302.62 and earned her first win of the season. Freeman claimed the top spot in the one meter event with a 270.45.
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.