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THIS WEEK — The University of Iowa men’s swimming and diving team travels to Bloomington, Indiana, for the 2020 Big Ten Championships from Feb. 26-29 at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center.
FOLLOW LIVE
• Wednesday through Saturday prelims will be streamed online on BTN+. Saturday night’s session will be broadcast on the Fox Sports app. It will be tape delayed on BTN on Sunday.
• Live results will be on Meet Mobile and hawkeyesports.com.
• 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.
MEET INFORMATION
Beginning at 4 p.m. (CT) on Feb. 26, the championships begin with the 200-medley and 800-freestyle relays. In the following days, the format follows this timeline:
10 a.m. (CT): Preliminary Events
12 p.m. (CT): Diving Preliminaries
5:30 p.m. (CT): Swimming and Diving Finals
B1G REVIEW
• The Hawkeyes placed eighth at the 2019 Big Ten Championships, finishing 3.5 points shy of seventh with 560 points.
• Iowa’s top finishers at the championships came from Michael Tenney, Aleksey Tarasenko, and Joe Myhre. The 400-free relay team of Tarasenko, Jack Smith, Will Scott, and Myhre earned Iowa a bronze medal on the final day with the third-fastest time in school history. Tarasenko returned to finals in the 50 free, 100 free, and 200 free, notching top-six times in school history in each event. Tenney advanced to the finals and ticked top-10 records in the 500 free, 200 fly, and 400 IM.
• The Hawkeyes had 33 top-24 finishes during the championships.
HEARING FROM SENIOR JOE MYHRE
“Overall, I’m looking forward to racing and trying to beat the people next to me. The times will play out after that. Watching the girls race this past week was motivational. They put it together and improved, which made me excited for this week.”
On racing against Indiana and Michigan in Bloomington earlier this season:
“For us, it was good experience and exposure to the pool. We’re putting that experience in our back pocket and going into this meet as a new experience. We know it’s going to be a fast meet, but having that meet in the fall gave us a taste of the environment and the pool prior to this peak meet.”
On who will stand out at Big Tens:
“I think the freshman are going to have a great meet. They’ve worked so hard and have become solid members of this team, which I think will pay off this week. The seniors have been working very hard as well, we’re going to compete and show up big.”
HEARING FROM ALEKSEY TARASENKO
“It’s a whole season of preparation. You start the season in September and you work hard until Big Tens and you can change different things that you want to take with you, but actually it’s about the systematic routine. You need to trust the process, trust your coaches, and just work hard. Mentally, you need to prepare yourself, especially the week before. Most people think it’s 50-50, muscle and mentality, but it’s just your body. It’s a physical thing. It’s more important what you have in your brain when the time comes to race.”
HEARING FROM SENIOR WILL SCOTT
“The team is stoked and ready after watching the girls this past week, especially the upperclassmen. We’re ready to show up and put it all out on the line.”
On racing against Indiana and Michigan in Bloomington earlier this season:
“They’re not here to mess around. We’re in one of the most competitive conferences in the nation and it’s a matter of respecting our opponents. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter about our time, it matters whether we touch the wall before everyone else.”
On his goals for finishing out the season:
“Personally, I’d like to take as many people to NCAAs as I can, whether that’s helping on the relay teams or just cheering them on from the sidelines. We’d like to have a good presence there this year and I think a few of our relays have a good chance.”
AMONG THE B1G: MEN
The Iowa men are littered throughout the top-10 across the Big Ten Conference. In team dual-meet rankings, the Hawkeyes sit third with 792.40 points.
• Sophomore Aleksey Tarasenko (6th), seniors Steve Fiolic (7th) and Joe Myhre (9th) all rank in the top 10 of the 50 free, with Tarasenko also holding a top spot in the 100 free (4th) and 200 free (6th).
• Sophomore Mateusz Arndt holds prestige in the 500 free (4:19.89), placing sixth overall.
• Iowa boasts two top-10 times in the 200 back from sophomore Anze Fers Erzen (5th, 1:42.64) and freshman Ryan Purdy (10th, 1:44.64).
• Freshman Will Myhre ranks 10th in the 100 breast (53.32), followed by junior Daniel Swanepoel at 53.35 (12th). Swanepoel also sits at seventh in the 200 breast (1:55.46).
• Senior Michael Tenney sits ninth in the B1G field in the 200 fly (1:45.76). Fers Erzen rounds out Iowa’s individual placings at fifth in the 400 IM (3:47.51).
• Iowa’s free relay teams all rank within the top-four. The 200-free relay sits third (1:18.31) along with the 800-free relay (6:27.21). The 400-free relay ranks fourth in 2:53.74.
AMONG THE RANKINGS: MEN
The Hawkeye men slipped out of the CollegeSwimming.com top-25, currently sitting at 27th with 792.40 points. In the final TYR/CSCAA poll, the Hawkeyes finished 20th with 78 points.
MEET-BY-MEET
• The Hawkeyes opened the season with three wins over Michigan State and Northern Iowa on Oct. 3. The men defeated the Spartans, 182-112, while the women pulled out the double victory over Michigan State and UNI in identical fashion, 183-113.
• At the season’s first invitational, nine Hawkeyes took to the water at the SMU Classic and finished fourth out of six total teams with 242 points.
• The Hawkeye men captured a win against Minnesota, 156-144 , at the CRWC, hoisting the team’s second Big Ten win of the season. The Hawkeye women put up strong times against a ranked Minnesota team, narrowly falling 157-143. The Iowa men got its first win against Minnesota since 2017.
• The Iowa women swam well against the third-ranked Michigan, posting seven individual wins. Despite a strong showing, Iowa fell 173-127. The 19th-ranked Iowa men’s team dropped its contests against No. 1 Michigan (218-82) and fell to No. 6 Indiana (245-55) in Bloomington, Ind.
• The Iowa women swam well against third-ranked Michigan, posting wins in seven events, but ultimately lost 127-173.
• The 19th-ranked Iowa men’s team dropped its Big Ten duals against No. 1 Michigan (218-82) and No. 6 Indiana (245-55) in Bloomington, Ind.
• The Iowa women dominated Big Ten opponent Rutgers, 199-100, in Iowa City on Nov. 8, the team’s final dual before its midseason invitational.
• The Hawkeyes went north to compete in the Minnesota Invitational for a midseason showdown and they posted several school records from Hannah Burvill, Millie Sansome, and Kelsey Drake. The Hawkeye men placed fifth among the field, while the women were seventh.
• The Iowa women posted a dominating victory over Iowa State for the 10th year in a row, 179-121, in Ames on Dec. 13. The team’s victory clinched the overall win in the 2019 Iowa Corn CyHawk Series between both schools.
• The Hawkeye men captured another ranked win, downing No. 17 Notre Dame, 159.50-140.50, this past weekend. The Hawkeye women tabbed a B1G win over Illinois, 223-86, for its largest margin of victory this season. Iowa fell short of Notre Dame, 209.50-99.50.
• The Hawkeye men fell to Northwestern, 157-143. The Hawkeye women lost to Northwestern, 199-101.
• The Hawkeye men completed the 2020 Shamrock Invitational with a second-place finish, boasting 917 points, followed by a fourth-place finish from the women with 629.5 points.
• The Hawkeyes swept Western Illinois on both the men’s and women’s sides on Senior Night, posting scores of 130-67 (W) and 122-44 (M).
• The Hawkeye women earned ninth at the 2020 Big Ten Conference cHampionships in Iowa City, scoring a program high 430 points since the introduction of the new scoring format in 2016.
B1G HONOREES
The Hawkeyes have earned three Big Ten Conference weekly honors during the 2019-20 season.
• Big Ten Men’s Swimmer of Week: Anze Fers Erzen (Oct. 9)
• Big Ten Men’s Diver of the Week: Anton Hoherz (Oct. 9)
• Big Ten Men’s Freshman of the Week: Michael Huebner (Oct. 9)
MAKING THE CUT
• Aleksey Tarasenko (19.68), Steve Fiolic (19.73), and Joe Myhre (19.77) all hold NCAA ‘B’ cuts in the 50 free. Tarasenko (42.85) and Fiolic (43.74) both hold cuts in the 100 free as well. Tarasenko is the only Hawkeye to hold three NCAA cuts, also having the 200 free (1:35.09).
• Mateusz Arndt holds the 500 free qualifying standard with a 4:19.89.
• Anze Fers Erzen (1:42.64) and freshman Ryan Purdy (1:44.64) both hold the ‘B’ standard in the 200 back. Fers Erzen holds a second cut in the 400 IM (3:47.51).
• Freshman Will Myhre (53.32) and Daniel Swanepoel (53.35) both secured the 100 breast standard at the Minnesota Invitational in December. Swanepoel also holds the 200 breast standard at 1:55.46.
• Senior Michael Tenney captured the 200 fly cut at the Minnesota Invitational in 1:45.76.
NCAA ZONE DIVING QUALIFIERS
Two Hawkeyes have posted NCAA Zone Diving standards this season.
1-Meter Men: Mohamed Neuman (334.00), Anton Hoherz (320.10)
3-Meter Men: Anton Hoherz (356.35), Mohamed Neuman (347.05)
ON DECK
Iowa’s divers return to action March 9-11, traveling to Dallas for the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships.
