Notes: Iowa Heads to Big Ten Championships

THIS WEEK
The University of Iowa women’s swimming and diving team travels to Madison, Wisconsin, for the Big Ten Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships on Feb. 16-19. The competition will be held at the Soderholm Family Aquatic Center beginning on Wednesday at 5 p.m. (CT). Prelims/finals will be held Thursday through Saturday at 10 a.m. and 5:30 p.m.

FOLLOW LIVE
• The duration of the 2022 Big Ten Championships will be streamed online via BTN+ — a paid subscription service.
• Live results for the meet will be available on hawkeyesports.com (via the schedule page) and Meet Mobile.
• Fans can also follow the Hawkeyes on Twitter/IowaSwimDive for live meet updates.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Wednesday: 200-medley relay, 800-free relay
Thursday: 500 free, 200 IM, 50 free, 1-meter diving, 400-medley relay
Friday: 100 fly, 400 IM, 200 free, 100 breast, 100 back, 3-meter diving, 200-free relay
Saturday: 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast, 200 fly, platform diving, 1,650 free, 400-free relay

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
• Nathan Mundt is in his first season as head coach after spending six years as head coach of the Iowa Flyers Club. Mundt previously was an assistant coach for the Hawkeyes from 2008-16.
• The Hawkeyes recorded 10 individual season-bests during their tri-meet at Minnesota.
• Iowa returns 10 letterwinners from last season’s squad, including senior diver Sam Tamborski, who was a 2021 NCAA qualifier.

ONE FINAL B1Gs FOR TAMBORSKI
Senior Sam Tamborski heads to Madison for her final Big Ten Championships. The Colorado native has tallied three top 10 finishes during her Hawkeye career off the 3-meter. Last season, Tamborski won the “B” final, finishing ninth overall. Her highest finish came in 2020, placing seventh off the 3-meter.

NCAA ZONE QUALIFIERS
Three Hawkeyes have posted NCAA Zone Diving standards this season. Senior Sam Tamborski and sophomore Sarah Ballard have posted qualifying scores off both the 1-meter and 3-meter, while freshman Makayla Hughbanks has a Zone mark off the 1-meter.
1-Meter: Ballard (306.30), Tamborski (287.32), Hughbanks (277.20)
3-Meter: Tamborski (338.10), Ballard (314.55)

GILBERTSON LEADS CHARGE
Junior Kennedy Gilbertson is leading the team in six individual events and is a part of all the team’s top five relays. The Wisconsin native has the top times in the 50 free (23.32), 100 free (51.28), 200 free (1:52.88), 100 back (55.30), 200 back (2:01.81), and 100 fly (55.93) and is a part of the top 200-medley (1:43.81), 400-medley (3:55.16), 200-free (1:37.45), 400-free (3:31.75), and 800-free (7:48.14) relays.
• Junior Aleksandra Olesiak is tops on the team in the 100 breast (1:03.59), 200 breast (2:20.80) and 200 IM (2:07.19), while also being on the top five relays.

10 SEASON-BESTS IN MINNEAPOLIS
Juniors Kennedy Gilbertson, Ariel Wooden, Payton Lange (200-free), Anna Brooker (1000-free), Georgia Clark (100-back), Zoe Pawloski (200-IM) and sophomore Anna Pfeiffer (100-back) all swam top-times in their respective events during Iowa’s final dual meet of the season at Minnesota. Gilbertson recorded a season-best in three events — 50-free, 100-back and 200-back. Wooden posted her top times in the 50 and 100 free.

IMPRESSIVE RELAY BOUTS
Iowa put together two of its best relay performances during the Minnesota and Northwestern tri-meet. The Hawkeyes’ 200-free relay featuring juniors Kennedy Gilbertson, sophomores Maddie Black and Anna Pfeiffer, and junior Payton Lange swam a season-best 1:35.35. Gilbertson, Black, and Lange joined junior Aleksandra Olesiak in the 400-free relay for a season-best 3:31.75.

HAWKEYES SIGN 11 FOR 2022-23
Iowa signed 11 student-athletes to National Letters of Intent during the early signing period in November. The class includes Dani Anglin (Diving, Boynton Beach, Fla.), Olivia Asay (Fly/Back/Free, Downers Grove, Ill.), Alyssa Konz (Diving, Victoria, Minn.), Sabina Kupcova (Free/IM, Levice, Slovakia), Scarlet Martin (Fly/Back/Free, Coralville, Iowa), Sila, Ozkazanc (Free/Back, Ankara, Turkey), Geneva Pauly (diving, Arvada, Colo.), Madison Stone (Free/Danville, Calif.)Leslie Wendel (Free/Fly, Winnetka, Ill.), (Emily Wooden (Free/Fly, Chino Hills, Calif.), and Lainey Woodward (Diving, Omaha, Neb.).

RETURNING NCAA QUALIFIER
Senior Sam Tamborski is a three-time NCAA qualifier off the 3-meter springboard. The Colorado native finished ninth in the event at the 2021 Big Ten Championships and she was seventh in 2020.
• Tamborski enters her senior season with the fifth-best 3-meter score in school history at 355.05.

HAWKEYE COACHING STAFF
• Nathan Mundt returns for his second stint with the Hawkeyes and he becomes the seventh head coach in program history. The Indiana native served as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator from 2008-16 where he coached 33 All-Americans and 42 NCAA qualifiers and helped the Hawkeyes to six top 40 NCAA finishes and 115 school records.
• Diving coach Todd Waikel enters his ninth season with the program. Waikel has coached five All-Americans during his tenure in Iowa City and 15 NCAA Championships qualifiers.
• Mona Groteguth-Garcia completes the Hawkeye coaching staff, coming to Iowa City following a two-year stint at TCU. She helped the Horned Frogs to back-to-back third-place Big 12 Conference finishes — the best for the program since 2012-13. Groteguth-Garcia also coached at the University of Indianapolis from 2017-19 and she swam collegiately at North Texas.

UP NEXT
The Iowa divers will make a return trip to Madison on March 5-9 to compete in the NCAA Zone D Diving Championships.