First Dual Meet Awaits Hawkeyes

Oct. 6, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

THIS WEEK — The University of Iowa men’s and women’s swimming team will travel to Kirksville, MO this Friday Oct. 9 to take on Truman State. The meet will start at 5 p.m.

LAST WEEK — The University of Iowa men’s and women’s swimming team started of their season with a splash at the annual Black and Gold intrasquad meet Saturday, Oct. 3. The Hawkeyes came together and raced for a cure, supporting breast cancer awareness. After a great competition, the Gold squad came out victorious, beating the Black sqaud 305-209.

The Gold team was led by junior captains Verity Hicks and Max Dittmer and sophomore Danielle Carty. The Black team was led by senior captain Stacia Johns and Nick Divan. Hicks had two individual first places in the 1,000 free (10:37.33), and 500 free (5:11.99). Hicks was also on the winning 400 free relay (3:38.61) that closed out the meet. Freshman Byron Butler had an excellent meet, taking three individual first place finishes in the 200 fly (1:57.56), 200 back (1:54.59) and 100 fly (51.16). In the men’s final heat, the Gold team of sophomore Duncan Partridge, Dittmer, senior Jake Moore and sophomore Paul Gordon posted a winning time of 3:08.07 in the men’s 400 free relay.

“We’re excited to kick-off our dual meet season with a road trip to Truman State” said Coach Long. “Truman State is a proud program with many NCAA Div. II Championship banners. It’ll be a great opportunity to step up and race a quality opponent in our first meet.”

HEAD COACH Marc Long — Marc Long is in his sixth season as head coach for the University of Iowa swimming team. It’s his fifth as head coach of the combined program. During his tenure as head coach of both programs, 10 school records have fallen and 39 Hawkeyes have provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships.

DIVING COACH Bob Rydze — Bob Rydze is in his 35th year as diving coach of the men and women’s teams at the University of Iowa. Rydze served as Team Leader for USA Diving at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China where he served as the 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 spring of 2010. The facility will be at the corner of Burlington and Madison streets and is expected to cost $69 million.

FIELD HOUSE POOL — Iowa’s Field House 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 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.