Big Ten Championships Available Online

Feb. 16, 2010

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Iowa Big Ten Championships Postseason Guide

THIS WEEK
The Iowa women’s swimming and diving team will compete at the Big Ten Championships, Wednesday thru Saturday at Wes Lafayette, IN. All events will be held at the Doris Z. Holloway Pool on the Purdue University campus. Preliminary events will begin Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 11 a.m. Finals are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. (CT) each evening. All-session tickets are $35 for adults and $20 for students. Tickets are available from the Purdue Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-49-SPORT.

ONLINE VIDEO AND RESULTS
Live video and complete results can be found throughout the championships at purduesports.com.

TELEVISION BROADCAST
The Big Ten Championships will be televised tape delayed on the Big Ten Network Feb. 26 at 7 p.m. (CT). Steve Schlanger will handle the play-by-play while Molly Sullivan and Kimiko Soldati provide analysis.

2009 BIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPS REVIEW
The Hawkeyes placed ninth with 137 points at the 2009 Big Ten Championships at West Lafayette, IN. Hawkeye sophomore Katarina Tour was Iowa’s top individual placewinner – finishing eighth in the 100 breast (1:01.95). She also swam on the 200 medley relay that placed eighth, the 400 medley relay that placed eighth, and the 400 free relay that placed eighth. Freshmen Danielle Carty, Daniela Cubelic and juniors Julie deBruin, Christine Kuczek and senior Allison Gschwend also swam on those relays. Kuczek, deBruin, Cubelic and Gschwend swam on the 200 free relay that placed eighth (1:32.37). Kuczek, sophomore Verity Hicks, Gschewend and Cubelic swam the 800 free relay that placed eighth (7:21.08). Junior diver Deidre Freeman placed eighth in the Three-Meter diving (301.65) and 12th in the One-Meter Diving (253.50).

IOWA IN BIG TEN HISTORY
The Hawkeye women have crowned 13 Big Ten champions in the program’s 35-year history. Iowa’s highest finish at the Big Ten Championships was in 1986 when the team tied for second after crowning eight champions. Nancy Vaccaro won Iowa’s first title in the 50 fly in 1983. Iowa’s last Big Ten champion was Melissa Loehndorf in the 200 fly in 2001. Kelly Johnson was named Big Ten Diver of the Year in 1986, and Head Diving Coach Bob Rydze has been named Big Ten Diving Coach of the Year three times (1985, 1986, 1995). Kerry Stewart (1983), Jennifer Skolaski (2005) and Nancilea Underwood (2006) are Iowa’s Big Ten Medal of Honor winners for women’s swimming and diving.

IOWA SWIMMING HISTORY & TRADITION
Since its first season in 1975, the Hawkeye women’s swimming and diving team has posted 111 NCAA qualifiers, 39 all-Americans and 16 Big Ten championships. The Hawkeyes have a dual meet record of 183-157-2 in their 35-year history.

Iowa’s facility, the Field House Pool, was the world’s largest indoor pool when it was dedicated in January, 1927. Head Men’s Coach Dave Armbruster, who founded the team in 1917 and coached until 1957, designed the facility. The Field House pool was the birthplace of the butterfly stroke. Armbruster and swimmer Jack Sieg collaborated in its development in the 1930s. The acceptance of the new stroke encountered considerable controversy and was first used Feb. 25, 1935, in Iowa City in the medley relay in a dual against Wisconsin. The relay included Dick Westerfield, Sieg and Adolph Jacobsmeyer. Sieg’s time was five seconds faster than the existing 100-yard world record.

HEAD COACH Marc Long
Marc Long is in his sixth season as head coach for the University of Iowa swimming program. It’s his fifth year as head coach of the combined programs. During his tenure as head coach of both programs, 10 school records have fallen and 45 Hawkeyes have provisionally qualified for the NCAA Championships. Under Long, the men’s team has a 27-18 record, while the women’s squad has a 39-34 mark.

As a Hawkeye swimmer (1987-89), Long was a multiple NCAA finalist, six-time all-American and three-time Big Ten Champion, winning two conference titles in the 100 fly and one as part of the 400 free relay. He was voted a team captain in 1989 and helped lead the Hawkeyes to a Big Ten runners-up finish, and their highest team placing (eighth) in modern day history at the NCAA Championships. Long swam on Iowa’s Big Ten and NCAA record setting 200 freestyle relay that year.

Long is assisted by Kirk Hampleman (Auburn, 2002), Frannie Malone (Iowa, 2000) and Nathan Mundt (Tampa, 2001).

DIVING COACH Bob Rydze
Bob Rydze is in his 35th year as diving coach of the Hawkeye men and women’s teams. Rydze served as Team Leader for the USA Diving team at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China. During his tenure with the Hawkeyes, Rydze has coached 31 all-Americans, nine Big Ten and one NCAA Champion.

CAMPUS RECREATION & WELLNESS CENTER
Ground was broken for the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center in October, 2007. The Iowa Swimming and Diving team will break-in the new facility at the start of the 2010-11 season. The facility is located at the corner of Burlington and Madison streets and is expected to cost $69 million.

NEXT COMPETITION
Iowa’s divers will compete at the NCAA Diving Qualifier March 12-14. Swimmers and divers who have met qualifying standards will compete at the NCAA Championships March 18-20 in West Lafayette, IN.