Oct. 15, 2010
Video interview with Coach Long
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — The University of Iowa men’s swimming and diving team hosted the Wisconsin Badgers at the first Big Ten meet of the season. The Hawkeyes crushed Wisconsin 192-102.
The men’s 200 medley team of senior Max Dittmer, and juniors Duncan Partridge, Paul Gordon and Ryan Phelan brought the fans to their feet early on. The Hawkeyes were neck-and-neck with the Wisconsin’s A relay from start to finish. Phelan anchored the relay and just touched out the Badgers. The team posted a first-place time of 1:31.41.
Iowa carried the momentum on to the 1,000 free. The Hawkeyes swept the event, placing one, two and three. Freshman Manuel Belzer recorded a first-place time of 9:34.27. Sophomore Patrick Weigand placed second (9:36.13) while sophomore Andy Ahlberg finished third (9:39.19). Phelan earned first place in 50 free with a season best time of 20.38.
Going into the first break the Hawkeyes trailed the Badgers 99-51.
The Hawkeyes came back with a splash after the break, sweeping the 50 free. Partridge earned first place with a time of 45.86. Sophomore Jordan Huff placed second with a time of 46.10 while Phelan came in third (46.23). Senior Sean Hagan had a close race with Wisconsin’s fastest swimmer in 200 breast. He just touched out Wisconsin’s swimmer (2:05.24) with a time of 2:05.03 to take first place.
Belzer had a fantastic swim in the 500 free. He crushed the competition, winning the race with a time of 4:36.12. Gordon swam a collegiate best time of 48.87 in the 100 fly.
The Iowa divers had their first competition of the season against the Badgers. In the 1-meter diving event freshman Arsen Sarkisian placed second with a score of 267.90. Freshman Osvel Molina finished behind Sarkisian in third place with a score of 266.70. The Hawkeyes continued the competition with the 3-meter diving event. Sarkisian finished second with a score of 266.55 and Molina finished third (264.52).
The Hawkeyes concluded the meet with the 400 free relay. The team of Gordon, Partridge, Phelan and Huff led from start-to-finish, winning the race by five seconds with a time of 3:02.26.
“We are getting there but we still have a lot of work to do,” said Head Coach Marc Long. “We are still putting together championship caliber teams. Both the men and women’s teams are coming together and training hard. It was our first Big Ten meet and it was a fun crowd and that always energizes our swimmers. We go on the road next week and they need to carry on that momentum without a home crowd.”
Iowa will return to action Oct. 22 when the team travels to Michigan State. The event will start at 5 p.m. (CT)