Courtesy: Iowa Athletics
The University of Iowa swimming and diving team will send the women’s team to Champaign, Illinois to face Illinois and No. 13 Notre Dame on Friday at the Activities and Recreation Center, while Hawkeye men team hosts the 18th-ranked Fighting Irish on Saturday at 11 a.m. (CT) at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center Natatorium.
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HAWKEYES WELCOME TWO NEWCOMERS
The Hawkeyes have welcomed two new international swimmers to the roster over winter break. Freshman Aleksey Tarasenko of Tashkent, Kasakhstan, and freshman Lauren McDougall of Sydney, Australia, both will compete in the freestyle events for the Hawkeyes and both will be active additions this weekend.
PREPARATION IN FLORIDA
Iowa departed for the sunshine, beaches, and outdoor training in Sarasota, Florida, on Dec. 15. There the team spent a week training in preparation for the second leg of the season. Sophomore Kelsey Drake noted “We are able to really focus on training and getting better (on this training trip). It is easy at home to get distracted with other things that are going on. (In Florida) there aren’t many distractions so we can focus, get down to it, and swim fast when we’re here.”
HEARING FROM SAMANTHA SAUER
“I am feeling good about the meet this weekend. We have put in work the past couple of weeks and are ready to compete for the first time in a while. The training trip prepared us by giving the team some competition and challenges. The coaches pushed us out of our comfort zone and wanted to challenge us and make us better to prepare us for this last month and a half of the season.”
HEARING FROM MICHAL BRZUS
“We did great work during training trip and over the last week so we are in good shape. We are excited to race again after a long break. We know that this will be a challenging meet with a strong opponent, which motivates us even more.”
B1G HAWKEYE SWEEP
Iowa swept the Big Ten Conference weekly women’s honors after facing Iowa State on December 7. Kelsey Drake was named the Swimmer of the Week, Jayah Mathews the Diver of the Week, and Sam Tamborski the Freshman of the Week. Drake is a current school record holder in the 100 fly.
NCAA “B” QUALIFYING STANDARDS
Seven Hawkeyes current boast NCAA ‘B’ qualifying standards. Sophomore Daniel Swanepoel has qualified for the 200 breaststroke with a time of 1:57.56. Senior Kenneth Mende posted a 1:44.25 in the 200 back on day two of the invitational. Joe Myhre holds the 100 free standard with a time of 43.76. Freshman Mateusz Arndt also holds the 500 free standard with a time of 4:23.31. Junior Hannah Burvill holds the 50 free (26.62), 500 free (4:44.24), and 200 free (1:45.97) qualifying standards. Sophomore Kelsey Drake also owns a standard in the 100 fly with a school record time of 53.12.
SCHOOL RECORDS GO DOWN
Three school records fell during the Hawkeye Invitational from both Kelsey Drake and Hannah Burvill. Drake took down the 100 fly record in a time of 53.12 seconds, while Burvill demolished the 50 free record in a time of 22.55 seconds while leading off the 200 free relay. She previously broke the record that same night in 22.62 seconds. Burvill also broke the 500 free record in a time of 4:44.24.
PREVIOUS SUCCESS
• The Hawkeye men and women placed third respectively among their fields in the Hawkeye Invitational. Daniel Swanepoel, Joe Myhre, Kenneth Mende, Hannah Burvill, and Kelsey Drake all posted NCAA ‘B’ qualifying times.
• The seven Hawkeyes who participated in the ACC/B1G Challenge either tied their season bests or shattered previous, helping the Big Ten Conference to both men’s and women’s team victories. This was the first meet where all team members wore fastskins.
• The Hawkeyes swam to a number of 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.
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.
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.