400 Free Relay Breaks School Record at Hawkeye Invite Finale

IOWA CITY, Iowa – University of Iowa’s 400 freestyle relay team of Payton Flowers, Rachel Dildine, Ella Jean Kelly and Jenna Kerr capped the Hawkeye Invite by taking down the program’s school record on Friday night. The quartet finished in 3:18.82 to claim the top spot in the record books. 

In the meet’s final event of the night, the team of Flowers, Dildine, Kelly, and Kerr broke the school record that was previously set in 2017. Flowers started things off with a lead leg of 49.41. Next, Dildine completed her split in 49.81. Kelly recorded a 50.28 split before Kerr clinched the school record with a 49.32. The group finished fourth overall.

As a team, Iowa placed third at the 2025 Hawkeye Invitational. The Hawkeyes pulled away from Illinois and Kansas during the finals session. Iowa finished with 1,059 points.

“It was a huge step forward for our program to perform that way at the end of the meet when everybody's tired after a grueling three days,” head coach Nathan Mundt said. “It's big for our progression overall. Throughout the entire week of competition to see us time and time again progress from one session to the next and have tremendous energy together was a lot of fun. This is what we've been building toward. We're looking forward to getting back to work after the holiday as we prepare for our winter season.”

The Iowa swimmers continued the week’s momentum into the 100 free. Three Hawkeyes made moves in the top-10 record book during the prelims. Freshman Payton Flowers touched the wall in 49.30, securing bronze and a spot in the A final. Flowers climbed to second in the Iowa record book. Sophomore Rachel Dildine was right behind Flowers, clinching fourth (49.81) in the race and updating her top-10 time to fourth. Junior Jenna Kerr (50.00) was Iowa’s third finalist and updated her top-10 time from tied for eighth to sixth overall. 

Ultimately, Flowers (49.41), Kerr (49.87) and Dildine (49.96) came in fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively, while Kerr updated her lifetime best and remained in sixth in the record books.

Ella Jean Kelly and Olivia Frantum tallied personal bests in the prelims, while Audrey Olen notched a season best. In the finals race, Kelly (50.85) and Olen (51.10) recorded personal bests. 

More record book improvements came from the platform divers. In the morning session, freshman Zita Bernatsky scored 227.35 points to place bronze in prelims and move into ninth overall at Iowa. Senior Geneva Pauly (225.35) placed fifth and sophomore Stephanie Avarm (214.75) took seventh to seal their spots in the championship final. Freshman Kamila Swanson scored 205.20 points, securing tenth and a spot in the B final. 

The Hawkeye divers continued to update records during the evening finals. Pauly won the event with 280.55 points, which was a personal record for the senior and the third-most points overall at Iowa. Avram collected a personal-best 240.85 points, placing her at fifth in the Hawkeyes’ record book. Bernatsky took home eighth with a total of 207.75 points to round out the A final. The last personal best for the divers came from Swanson, who tallied 210.40 points.

“While I am proud of our performance today, I am even more proud of our performance for the whole week,” diving coach Todd Waikel said. “It was a long meet. There were highs and lows, but I told the women I was proud of their resolve and tenacity. We've been training hard all semester and it showed that they could get the job done. We're setting ourselves up for success.”

The record book adjustments continued during the 200 breaststroke prelims. Sophomore Emilie Mosner engraved her name in the eighth-place spot after she swam a 2:17.65 to qualify for the B final of the evening session. Junior Olivia Swalley touched the wall in a season-best 2:15.47 to secure the final spot in the A final. 

Swalley updated that season-best time to 2:14.05 in the finals race, where she came in fifth overall. Emilie Mosner (2:17.95) secured 14th, and Willa Hage recorded a personal-best 2:21.44.

Juniors Josie Hood (2:03.26) and Mallory Kell (2:09.36) and senior Leslie Wendel (2:06.87) all collected season bests during the 200 butterfly prelims. Hood competed in the B final, where she finished in 12th. During the evening session, both Hood and Kell collected season bests. Hood touched the wall in 2:02.88, while Kell finished in 2:08.95.

The Hawkeyes started the morning preliminary round with a pair of season bests. In the 200 backstroke, the sophomore duo of Hannah Cousins (2:00.83) and Elizabeth Beam (2:00.87) improved upon their previous bests.

In the evening competition, both swimmers recorded personal bests. Beam touched the wall in 1:59.13 and claimed 17th place. Cousins was right behind her in 18th, finishing the race in 1:59.56.

Up Next: The Hawkeyes will travel to Los Angeles, California, for their duel against UCLA. The meet will take place at the Spieker Aquatics Center from January 9-11.

HAWKEYE RESULTS
100 Freestyle Prelims
3. Payton Flowers - 49.30, 2nd at Iowa
4. Rachel Dildine - 49.81, 4th at Iowa
7. Jenna Kerr - 50.00, 6th at Iowa
19. Ella Jean Kelly - 51.09, PR
20. Audrey Olen - 51.16, SB
39. Olivia Frantum - 52.21, PR
52. Meredith O’Malley - 54.02
55. Olivia Asay - 54.60

100 Freestyle Finals
4. Payton Flowers - 49.41
5. Jenna Kerr - 49.87, PR, 6th at Iowa
6. Rachel Dildine - 49.95
19. Ella Jean Kelly - 50.85, PR
20. Audrey Olen - 51.10, PR

200 Backstroke Prelims
17. Hannah Cousins - 2:00.83, SB
18. Elizabeth Beam - 2:00.87, SB
49. Addie Crain - 2:13.96

200 Backstroke Finals
17. Elizabeth Beam - 1:59.13, PR
18. Hannah Cousins - 1:59.56, PR

200 Breaststroke Prelims
8. Olivia Swalley - 2:15.47, SB
14. Emilie Mosner - 2:17.65, 8th at Iowa
26. Willa Hage - 2:22.47

200 Breaststroke Finals
5. Olivia Swalley - 2:14.05, SB
14. Emilie Mosner - 2:17.95
27. Willa Hage - 2:21.44, PR

200 Butterfly Prelims
10. Josie Hood - 2:03.26, SB
26. Leslie Wendel - 2:06.87, SB
34. Mallory Kell - 2:09.36, SB

200 Butterfly Finals
12. Josie Hood - 2:02.88, SB
29. Leslie Wendel - 2:08.21
30. Mallory Kell - 2:08.95, SB

1650 Freestyle Finals
9. Olivia Frantum - 16:48.27
29. Meredith O’Malley - 17:44.54

400 Freestyle Relay Finals
4. Flowers, Dildine, Kelly, Kerr, - 3:18.82, 1st at Iowa
9. Swalley, Olen, Frantum, Hood - 3:24.33
25. Beam, Cousins, Hage,O’Malley - 3:31.58

Platform Diving Prelims
3. Zita Bernatsky - 227.35, 9th at Iowa
5. Geneva Pauly - 225.35
7. Stephanie Avram - 214.75
10. Kamila Swanson - 205.20

Platform Diving Finals
1. Geneva Pauly - 280.55, PR, 3rd at Iowa
3. Stephanie Avram - 240.85, PR, 5th at Iowa
8. Zita Bernatsky - 207.75
13. Kamila Swanson - 210.40, PR