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THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa swimming and diving team will send seven swimmers to West Lafayette, Indiana, to compete in the ACC/B1G Challenge. Competition will take place at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center, beginning Saturday at 4 p.m. (CT).
The Hawkeyes will send sophomore Kelsey Drake, junior Hannah Burvill, freshman Mateusz Arndt, seniors Kenneth Mende and senior Jack Smith and juniors Will Scott and Joe Myhre to compete for the Big Ten squad. 
FOLLOW LIVE
• Follow live results to the dual meet on Meet Mobile or on hawkeyesports.com.
• BTN will provide coverage for the entirety of the event. Saturday’s coverage will begin at 4 p.m. (CT) on BTN2Go, and Sunday’s events will begin at 9 a.m. live on BTN.
• For an inside look at the Iowa swimming and diving program and access to exclusive coverage, “like” Iowa swimming and diving on Facebook and follow @IowaSwimDive on Twitter and @hawkeyeswimdive on Instagram.
DIVING EXCELS
Sophomore Anton Hoherz has been steady for the Hawkeyes this season, consistently diving to season bests, including a career-best score of 391.40 off the 3-meter springboard. He also posted a season-best score of 365.35 off the platform against Michigan and Denver on Nov. 3.
Sophomore Jayah Mathews has been equally dominant for the women’s team, earning five first place finishes in the past two meets against Minnesota, Michigan, and Denver. On Nov. 2-3, Mathews scored a 348.30 off the 3-meter and 306.40 off the 1-meter, a career-best. All of her performances were NCAA Zone Diving Standards.
SPRINTERS SHOWING PROWESS
Iowa’s depth in the sprints has shown with impressive relay and individual finishes early in the 2018-19 season. The 200-free relay currently ranks No. 9 in the nation with a time of 1:20.30. The 400-free relay also ranks in the top 25 at No. 16. After his 19.99 swim against Minnesota, Joe Myhre launched to No. 11 in the country in the 50 free, as well as No. 17 in the 100 free with his 44.03 swim.
HEARING FROM REDSHIRT SENIOR KENNETH MENDE
“We don’t have any lofty expectations for this meet, rather we are going into it with the mindset that it will be a fun experience. Two years ago I competed at the USA/B1G Swimming Challenge, which had a similar format. Getting to know our competitors is something that I’m looking forward to for this meet.”
HEARING FROM SENIOR JACK SMITH
“We’re doing more race-focused training worked in with our usual workouts to fine tune our technique. Looking back at the past two weekends of racing, we can see what we’re doing wrong and work on it in practice. This is a good chance for us to race some of the best guys in the country.”
HEARING FROM JUNIOR WILL SCOTT
“This weekend is going to be different because we can race with other Big Ten swimmers instead of against them, depending on what the coaches decide. These are guys that we won’t see again until Big Tens or even NCAAs, so it’s a good opportunity to race against your peers in the sport and swim fast against fast people.”
HAWKEYES LOOKING STRONG
• The Hawkeyes swam to many season-bests, but fell to No. 7 Michigan in their double dual on Nov. 2-3 in Iowa City. The men’s team defeated Denver by a landslide, but were overcome by the Wolverines despite the team success. Junior Joe Myhre led the way with two individual wins in the 50 free and 100 free against Michigan.
• The Hawkeye men narrowly lost to No. 21 Minnesota after a near comeback after the 400 IM. Iowa finished the meet just 17 points back in the road loss. Junior Joe Myhre and freshman Anze Fers Erzen powered the comeback effort with individual wins.
• The Hawkeye women also tallied a fourth-place finish at the SMU Classic, finishing behind No. 8 Louisville, No. 11 USC, and No. 10 Virginia.
• Iowa opened its season a pair of dual victories at Michigan State with the men’s team posting a 193-98 win over the Spartans, while the Hawkeye women posted a 160-138 victory.
BURVILL WITH THE EARLY LEAD
Junior Hannah Burvill — a returning NCAA qualifier — is leading the team in five individual events while being part of four of the top relays. The England native has Iowa’s top times in the 200, 500, and 1,000 free, while also boasting the top times in the 100 and 200 back.
SOPHO-LEADERS
Three sophomores on the women’s team — Sarah Schemmel, Lexi Horner, and Kelsey Drake — have top times in seven events. Schemmel has sprinted to the top times in the 50 and 100 free, Horner leads the way in the 100 and 200 breast, and Drake has the top marks in the 100 fly, 200 fly, and 200 IM.
DIVING TO ZONE STANDARDS
Two men’s divers — Anton Hoherz and Will Brenner — and three women’s divers — Jayah Mathews, Sam Tamborski, and Thelma Strandberg — have posted NCAA Zone Diving Standard times this season. Hoherz has reached zone standards in all three events, Brenner, Mathews, and Tamborski have off the 1-meter and 3-meter, and Strandberg has off the platform.
MEN’S TOP FREESTYLE RETURNS
Iowa has a strong foundation returning in the freestyle events led by senior Jack Smith. In the 2017-18 season, Smith qualified for the NCAA Championships in three events – – 100 free, 200-free relay, and 400-free relay. Smith swam a lifetime best and school record in the 100 free (42.71). Juniors Will Scott and Joe Myhre also swam lifetime bests and were both members of the All-America 200-free relay (1:17.50) and 400-free relay (2:51.58). Myhre swam a personal best in the 50 free (19.84) while Scott swam a personal best 100 free (43.72). Senior Matt Kamin also swam to two personal bests in the 50 free (19.84) and 100 free (43.68).
RETURNING NCAA QUALIFIERS
Iowa returns seven NCAA qualifiers from a season ago. Four members of the men’s 200 and 400-free relays return, including juniors Will Scott and Joe Myhre, and seniors Jack Smith and Matt Kamin. They finished 16th overall in the 200-free relay (1:17.50) to earn All-America honors and placed 23rd in the 400-free relay (2:51.58).
The women also return two NCAA qualifiers in juniors Hannah Burvill and diver Thelma Strandberg. A two-time NCAA Championships qualifier, Strandberg comes off the 2017-18 season with the third-best platform performance in school history (248.80). The Norway native placed 35th at the NCAA Championships with a dive of 221.90. Burvill placed 31st in the 200 free (1:45.70) and 37th in the 100 free with a school record of 48.94.
HOSTING B1GS
The University of Iowa will serve as the host institution for the men’s 2019 Big Ten Championships. This will be the first time Iowa has hosted the meet since 2015. The Hawkeyes will also host the 2020 women’s Big Ten Championships and the 2021 men’s NCAA Championships.
IOWA SWIMMING AND DIVING HISTORY
Iowa was one of the first schools in the nation to compete on a collegiate level, and in 1937, the Hawkeyes competed at the first NCAA Championships. From 1937 to 1960, Iowa placed in the NCAA top 10 a total of 18 times, crowning nine NCAA and 22 Big Ten champions.
