Hawkeye Fan Shop — A Black & Gold Store | 24 Hawkeyes to Watch 2016-17 | Hawk Talk Monthly — Nov. 2016
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Four University of Iowa swimmers — senior Emma Sougstad, junior Jerzy Twarowski, sophomore Kenneth Mende, and freshman Hannah Burvill– will represent the Big Ten Conference at the USA Conference Challenge, presented by arena, in Indianapolis this November.
The USA College Challenge, a two-day, short-course yards dual meet, will feature members of the USA Swimming National Team squaring off against stars from the Big Ten Conference on Nov. 12-13 at the Indiana University Natatorium on the campus of IUPUI in Indianapolis.
Both sessions of the two-day meet will be televised live on the Big Ten Network. Saturday’s opening session of the all-star dual begins at 3:30 p.m. (CT), while Sunday’s session starts at 10:30 a.m. Both sessions will also stream live online at USASwimming.org and btn.com, as well as via the BTN2GO app. Bernie Guenther and Olympic gold medalist Rowdy Gaines will call the action for the Big Ten Network.
Ten swimmers from the 2016 Olympic Team, including eight medalists, are expected to compete at the event. Indiana’s Lilly King, a two-time gold medalist, highlights the competition. Full rosters for both teams are available online at USASwimming.org.
Sougstad, an honorable-mention All-American in the 100 breast last year, is a two-time NCAA qualifier. She is Iowa’s school record-holder in the 50 free (22.63), 100 breast (59.00), 200 breast (2:10.81), 200 IM (1:57.55), and as a member of the 200 free (1:30.96), 400-free (3:20.58), 200-medley (1:39.18), and 400-medley (3:36.72) relay teams. She competed at the 2016 USA Olympic Team Trials in the 100-meter breast this past summer.
Twarowski, another two-time NCAA qualifier, is Iowa’s school record holder in four events, holding the top times in the 100 fly (46.70), 200 fly (1:44.00), and as a member of the 200-medley (1:25.53) and 400-medley (3:07.83) relays.
Mende burst on to the scene after redshirting as a freshman in 2014. The NCAA qualifier led Iowa in both backstroke events, swimming the third-fastest time in program history in the 100 back (47.19) and the fourth in the 200 back (1:43.87). Mende is also a member of the school-record 400-medley relay team (3:07.83).
Burvill is pacing Iowa’s freestyle sprinters early in the 2016-17 season. The Great Britain native was one of several Hawkeye freshmen to notch first-place finishes at Iowa’s annual intrasquad meet. Burvill won the 200 free (1:50.14) and 500 free (5:03.86) as an individual, and swam the first-leg of the winning 200-free relay team (1:34.35). She also earned Big Ten Freshman of the Week honors following her performance at Michigan State in Iowa’s season opener.
