IOWA CITY, Iowa – The University of Iowa women’s swimming and diving team fell to Nebraska, 175-123, in the Hawkeyes’ 2022-23 home opener.
Iowa tallied six individual wins in its first Big Ten meet of the year. Sophomore diver Makayla Hughbanks took gold with career best performances off both the 1-meter (288.15) and 3-meter (301.25) springboards.
Senior Kennedy Gilbertson won both the 50 free (24.09) and 100 back (55.44), upping the Wisconsin native’s season total victories to three. Graduate student Sheridan Schreiber came in first in the 100 breast (1:03.74), and freshman Sabina Kupcova checked off Iowa’s final win of the night in the 200 IM (2:07.00).
The Hawkeyes’ grouping of junior Anna Pfeiffer, senior Aleksandra Olesiak, freshman Leslie Wendel and sophomore Molly Pedersen placed third in the 200-medley. Pedersen, junior Maddie Black, O’Malley, and Kupcova joined forces to finish second in the 400 free relay.
The Hawkeyes broke 20 previous season best times from their first meet on Oct. 7. Freshman Meredith O’Malley came away with a new season best time in both the 1000 free (10:46.78) and 500 free (5:18.33). Kupcova also eclipsed new season bests in the 100 free (52.28) and 200 free (1:52.41).
Iowa will travel to Minneapolis for another Big Ten duel against the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Friday, Nov. 11 at 5 p.m. (CT).
"The coaching staff is very proud of how we competed tonight against our first Big Ten opponent of the season. We're making tremendous progress in both swimming and diving events. We had some great wins tonight and came up a little short, but we're learning a lot about our young team and how they can continue to get better in practice and move forward.”
Head Coach Nathan Mundt
