Records fell last weekend at the Hawkeye Invitational, and they fell in abundance.
The Hawkeyes set four records in the pool over the weekend, three on Dec. 6, and another in the diving well.
Grant Betulius set the 100_backstroke school record at 45.56. Roman Trussov broke the 100-breaststroke record with a 52.98 performance.
Jerzy Twarowski set the 100-butterfly record in 46.70 and the 200-butterfly in 1:44.00, breaking a 22-year-old mark of 1:44.73, held by Rafal Szukala, a time that won the NCAA title in 1992.
Addison Boschult scored 394.35 points in platform diving to set the school record.
Long said the performance over the weekend was very encouraging.
“Anytime you break records, that’s always a great indicator, and it’s exciting and motivating for the team,” the 11-year head coach said.
Long said if Betulius, Trussov, Twarowski and the freestyler’s time from their respective events are added together, the relay is only 0.13 seconds off from qualifying for the NCAA championship.
Records aside, however, the Hawkeye swimmers said they were happy to see those times on the board early in the season.
“I think it was awesome, for sure better than I expected,” Twarowski said. “I was for sure happy.”
Twarowski was especially excited. He said he hasn’t progressed with his times since March 2013, almost two years, and wasn’t expecting to go as fast as he did.
“I thought it would be slower than it was,” he said. “That’s pretty good.”
Trussov was also surprised he swam as well as he did.
“I’m just glad I’ve improved since my freshman year,” Trussov said.
He took six tenths of a second off the old school record of 53.58. His previous best time was 53.60, posted in 2013.
“It’s pretty cool when you can go your best time mid-season, especially not with full taper,” he said. “It’s really exciting to know you can perform better at the end of the year.”
Long said he expects Trussov to make the NCAA championships with his time, while he said Twarowski will be right on the cusp of an invitation with his 100 fly.
Betulius will be guaranteed a spot at the NCAA meet in the 100 backstroke after hitting the A cut with his time.
“It feels really good,” Betulius said. “It takes the pressure off for Big Tens.”
Long said Big Tens will be the peak meet, and the goal for the team is to set even more records. Even with the focus on the end of the season, the racing this weekend was exciting for the Hawkeyes.
“It was a pretty good meet, there was a lot of good energy in the pool,” Trussov said. “Everybody was for going for it.”
Follow @IanFromIowa on Twitter for news, updates, and analysis about the Iowa men’s swimming and diving team.