Iowa Men Finish First Day of Competition

Nov. 20, 2009

Video interview with M. Long

Complete Results in PDF Format

IOWA CITY, IA- The University of Iowa men’s swimming team finished its first day of competition at the Hawkeye Invitational at the Field House Pool. The Hawkeyes faced South Dakota State, Truman State and Western Illinois. After the first day of competition, Iowa is in first place with 102 points. Behind Iowa are South Dakota State (101), Western Illinois (66) and Truman State (43)

“It’s just nice to be home and the final invite at this pool is special,” said Head Coach Marc Long. “It’s nice to race at home and a nice opportunity to see people swim different events. It was a good night.”

The Iowa men kicked of the meet with the 200 free relay, taking first and second place. The team of freshman Jordan Huff, sophomore Ryan Phelan, junior Brad Jones, and sophomore Duncan Partridge posted a first-place time of 1:22.56. While the team of junior Sean Hagan, freshman Kevin Moran, junior Richard Salhus and freshman Taylor Mitchell came in second with a time of 1:24.87.

Senior Nick Divan, continued the competition with the 500 free. He pulled ahead of the rest of the swimmers after the first 200 yards and kept the lead. He posted a first place time of 4:33.50. Huff swam the 500 free for the first time at Iowa and came in second (4:37.78).

The Hawkeyes swept the 200 IM, taking the top three spots. Iowa’s sophomore Paul Gordon took first-place with a time of 1:52.10. Junior Max Dittmer and Freshman Byron Butler took second and third place. Dittmer came in second at 1:54.53, while Butler came in right behind in third place (1:55.40).

Iowa dominated the 50 free. All eight lanes of the final heat of the 50 free were black and gold. Phelan earned the top spot with a time of 20.43, which was a season best for him. Partridge came in second (20.81), while Hagan took third (20.98).

The Hawkeye men concluded the competition with the 400 medley relay. Iowa’s team of Dittmer, Hagan, Gordon and Huff blew the competition away. They posted a first-place time of 3:23.25. Iowa also claimed second-place with the relay team of Butler, senior Matt Ryan, Salhus and Partridge earning a time of 3:27.51. Truman State’s third place team was eleven seconds behind Iowa’s first place team.

“Part of this is the experience of having to do this two days in a row, or three days in a row actually, with prelims-finals,” said Head Coach Marc Long. “Learning how to warm down and prepare yourself for the next day and get up and race. So that is what we are handling right now. It’s a learning process and as we prepare for later on in the season.”

Iowa will continue the competition tomorrow morning with prelims starting at 10 a.m., followed by finals at 6