Iowa Defeats Notre Dame, Denver and Missouri

Jan. 30, 2010

Complete Results in PDF Format

SOUTH BEND, IN – The University of Iowa men’s swimming and diving team (9-1) swept all three teams at the Shamrock Invite. The Hawkeyes beat Notre Dame (197-171), Missouri (184.5-183.5) and Denver (236-125). Notre Dame and Missouri have been receiving votes for Division I swimming and diving rankings along with the Iowa. Iowa stepped up when they needed to race hard and came out on top with three victories.

The Hawkeyes started off the second day of competition with the 200 medley relay. Juniors Max Dittmer, Sean Hagan, and sophomores Paul Gordon and Ryan Phelan teamed up for a second-place finish in the event. The team recorded a time of 1:32.28, which was Iowa’s fastest time of the season. Iowa’s “B” team came in fourth (1:33.92).

Freshman Donny Warren swam the 400 IM and placed fourth in the event. He posted a time of 4:04.81. Gordon kept the momentum going in the 100 fly. He placed second with a time of 49.44. Teammate freshman Byron Butler also swam the event finishing in sixth-place (50.76).

Iowa had the top three finishers in 200 free. Freshman Jordan Huff took the top spot with a time of 1:39.65. Gordon had his second individual second-place finish (1:40.04) and sophomore Duncan Partridge claimed third-place with a time of 1:40.64.

The relay team of Huff, Partridge, senior Brian Farris and Gordon earned a first-place finish in the 800 free relay. The team posted a time of 6:42.22. Sophomore Patrick Weigand swam the 1650 free event, which is the longest event of the competition. He put together a solid race and placed third in the event (16:00.22).

Butler had a second-place finish in the 200 back with a collegiate best time of 1:49.23. Not long after Butler’s strong finish in the 200 back, Gordon walked away with first-place and a collegiate best time in the 100 free. Hagan finished up his individual races with a second-place finish in the 200 breast.

The Hawkeyes really needed to step it up for the last event of the night, which was the 400 free relay. The team needed to beat Missouri in the relay in order to beat them overall and walk away with three victories. The team of Huff, Phelan, Partridge and Gordon knew what was at stake and ultimately walked away with a first-place finish. The team recorded an excellent time of 2:59.68, almost beating the pool record of 2:58.09.

“We swept the meet,” said Head Coach Marc Long. “We beat all three teams. We really had to race hard and we were confident with the relays especially when it came down to the last relay. Sure enough it came down to having to beat Missouri in the last relay and the guys stepped up and got the victory. I’m rellay proud of the team and how they stepped up and with their victories.”

Senior diver Mike Gilligan was the only male diver competing for Iowa. He placed third in the 1-meter diving event with a score of 323.40.