The Iowa women’s swimming and diving team improved to 6-1 on the season after posting a 162-120 victory over visiting Northwestern on Jan. 26.

The Hawkeyes claimed 10 events that led to a much-needed conference win as the team gears up for the Big Ten championship and the NCAAs in the coming weeks.  The Hawkeyes started fast — the quartet of sophomore Heather Arseth, juniors Karolina Wartalowicz and Abbey Tuchscherer, and freshman Olivia Kabacinski swam a time of 1:44.55 to win the 200-medley relay.

Sophomore Becky Stoughton finished first in all three of her races, winning the 1,000 free (10:06.49), 200 fly (2:01.72), and the 500 free (4:57.40). Stoughton, who said she still was finding ways to improve, was satisfied with her individual performance and the team’s.

“I’m definitely happy with my swims, but more importantly, I’m happy with how the team did, “ she said. “I think everyone really stepped up and did the best that she could. There is definitely room for improvement, but for right now, I’m happy with the win.”

Stoughton wasn’t the only Hawkeye who finished first in three events: Junior Lindsay Seemann equaled that with three victories of her own. She finished first in the 200 free (1:50.41), 200 back (2:01.20), and the 400 individual medley (4:23.70).

The 200 freestyle was one of Iowa’s two 1-2-3 finishes of the day; junior Emily Hovren touched in 1:50.62 to finish second, and Kabacinski finished in third (1:50.62).

Seemann credited the team’s success to how the Hawks have worked over the course of the season.

Wartalowicz added two first-place finishes to go along with the win in the 200-medley relay. The junior touched the wall first in the 100 breaststroke, finishing in 1:04.48, and the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:19.07.

The combination of junior Haley Gordon, freshman Ashley Horodyski, and Tuchscherer completed Iowa’s second 1-2-3 finish of the day in the 100 fly. Gordon touched the wall first, in a time of 56.85, and Horodyski (56.96) and Tuchscherer (57.22) finished second and third.

Head coach Marc Long said he was very pleased with the women’s performance, and he is now focused on gearing his team up for the Northwestern Invitational next weekend.

“I’m really proud of how the women stepped up today and the way we beat a team that we haven’t beaten in years,” Long said. “However, we do have to keep looking at the big picture and keep progressing.”

The Hawkeyes will travel to Evanston to go up against Northwestern and Nebraska before returning home for one more meet before the Big Ten championships. Long has his team geared up and ready to head into the championship portion of the season.

“We need to maintain focus and keep looking at the big picture,” he said. “It’s all part of fine tuning as we prepare for the championship meet coming up here real soon.”