Dec. 5, 2010
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By ADAM MEIER
IOWA CITY, Iowa — It’s been nearly an entire month since University of Iowa head coach Marc Long’s Hawkeye swimmers were last in competition prior to Friday’s opening day of the Hawkeye Invitational.
“The team was really excited for this one,” Long said following the completion of Day 1 of three at the seven-team invitational. “The break gave us time for some outstanding training and we’ve been ready to go.”
The Hawkeye men finished the first day’s round of events in the lead scoring 379 points, while the women were in second place with 289 points, trailing only the University of Denver. This fast start made it clear that the Hawkeyes took their extended holiday break as a time to improve and get stronger.
“We really cranked it up as far as training right after the Minnesota meet,” Long said. “Of course you have an academic break with Thanksgiving, so we had a lot of things to overcome. But we just really focused on things to improve upon in practice and get ready for the end of the season. The break certainly helped us there.”
The Iowa men landed first-place finishes in the 200 free relay, the 200 IM (Tyler Lentz), 50 free (Duncan Partridge), as well as the final event of the night, the 400 medley relay. The women were able to grab a victory in the 200 IM (Haley Gordon) along with the first-place finish of Deidre Freeman in 1-meter diving.
Long emphasized the importance of a midseason invitational and what one can do to help any team.
“We get to see a lot of swims from a lot of different people,” Long said. “We can try different lineups on relays and try different things from prelims to finals. These meets allow us to make adjustments in preparation for the Big Ten’s and NCAA’s.”
With the most crucial portion of the Hawkeye’s schedule just around the corner, Long hopes that this meet will serve as a springboard for growth.
“We certainly think this meet can propel us ahead,” Long said. “We’ve got to stay sharp and we need to work on the things we need to from this meet. We’ll review the tapes between sessions and make adjustments in preparation for the end of the year.”
Like on any good team, the core group of veteran Hawkeyes has been leading the charge this season, but followed by the upperclassmen are a number of underclassmen possessing an abundance of untapped potential.
“We’re very encouraged with our returning people that have some experience. It’s great to see them improve upon last year and get some wins,” Long added. “But the newcomers have also been nice to watch. It’s the first time we’ve seen them in an environment like this other than in the recruiting process. That’s outstanding for us as a staff to work with the younger people. They’re working hard and that’s very encouraging.”
The Hawkeye Invitational continues Sunday with the preliminary round for most events beginning at 10 a.m., and the finals at 6 p.m.