Iowa to compete in Short Course National Championships

Dec. 1, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

THIS WEEK — The University of Iowa women’s swimming team has five swimmers traveling to the ConocoPhillips Short Course National Championship meet. Dec. 3-5 in Federal Way, WA. Danielle Carty, Daniela Cubelic, Verity Hicks, Christine Kuczek, Sarah Galvin and Katarina Tour will be swimming in the event for the Hawkeyes.

“We’re excited to take a talented group of athletes to the U.S. Nationals in Seattle,” said Head Coach Marc Long. “It’s an outstanding opportunity to race against elite competition in an amazing environment. This experience will help with the development of our young team as we prepare for February and March.”

LAST EVENT– The Hawkeyes hosted the Hawkeye Invitational Nov. 20-22. The women faced Northern Iowa, Truman State and Western Illinois. Iowa held the top score all three days of the competition finishing with a final score of 1073. Coming in behind Iowa were Truman State (656), South Dakota State (575) and Western Illinois (442).

Junior Katarina Tour swam a season best time and took first-place in the 200 IM with a time of 2:03.11. On the second day of the competition she set a new pool record in the 100 fly. She swam a time of 55.06 to beat the old record of 55.43 set by Karen Groth of Iowa State in 1983.

Junior Kelsie Neubauer had a fantastic race in the 400 IM. She earned first place and swam a collegiate best time of 4:29.07. The Hawkeyes had four girls in the final heat of the 100 fly and they took the top four spots. Tour placed first with a time of 55.06, followed by senior Laura Mozden (55.82), senior Katie Michelau (56.95) and freshman Grace Borchers (57.83).

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’s 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 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.