Both the Iowa men’s and women’s swimming teams went to Minnesota with hopes to take home wins. However, that didn’t happen for the Hawkeyes. 

The No. 23 Iowa men’s swim team battled with No.19 Minnesota but came up short. The Gopher’s were able to outlast the Hawkeyes to hand Iowa a 163-137 loss.

Iowa was without one of its team captains and No. 1 sprinter in Brian Donatelli, who suffered a season-ending injury in October, but still managed to keep the meet close.

“Our team was hungry tonight; we performed well, and we’re going to bounce back from this and keep improving,” head coach Marc Long said in a release.

His team will have plenty of time to improve — the Hawkeyes won’t compete again until the Hawkeye Invitational on Dec. 5.

Iowa captain and senior Grant Betulius, who has finished as high as 11th at the NCAA championship meets, continued his strong start to the season, winning the 100 backstroke in a season-best time of 48.18.

Betulius earned an NCAA B cut time with his swim, meaning he could get an invitation to the NCAA championship meet at the end of March.

Meanwhile, junior Jackson Allen seems like the next man in the sprint group. He anchored the winning 200-medley relay, then won the 100 freestyle in 45.50.

Sophomore Brandis Heffner and junior Addison Boschult continued Iowa’s hot start on the diving boards. Boschult and Heffner each posted personal best finishes on the three-meter boards on their way to fourth and fifth place finishes respectively.

“It wasn’t just about achieving personal bests tonight; they stayed the course and improved on what we work on in practice,” head diving coach Todd Waikel said. “We fought all night, kept battling, and stepped up when we needed to. We’re headed in the right direction, and I’m looking forward to what lies ahead for us.”

The women came out of the pool with a 195-105 loss against the Gophers on Oct. 31. Despite the loss, these Hawkeyes never forgot the excitement of racing.

The team was lead by senior Becky Stoughton and sophomore Emma Sougstad, who carried the young Hawkeye squad to standout performances.

Iowa’s 200-medley relay got the race off to an exciting start by placing first with a season-best time of 1:43.13. This relay team is led by world-ranked swimmer Emma Sougstad and includes junior Olivia Kabacinski and freshmen Meghan Lavelle and Tereysa Lehnertz.

“Swimming with my 200-medley team is the most exciting because we all just came together, and I think that relay has a very good shot at making NCAAs,” Sougstad said.

Sougstad finished the meet with three top finishes and a third-place in her final race at Minnesota Oct. 31.

Stoughton took second place in the 1,000 freestyle while earning a season-best time of 4:52.68 in the 500 freestyle.

“We’ve got the type of energy you want in the team, and it’s exciting what we expect from them,” Long said in a release.

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