The Hawkeyes have added young swimmers and divers to boost the championship mindset.

By Anna Kayser
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The men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams expect to repeat their success from last year, not to mention build on it with the addition of some youth.

The loss of esteemed veterans in the off-season created an opportunity to bring in a new class to learn from the leadership of this year’s seniors.

“It looks different,” diving coach Todd Waikel said. “We lost some of our veterans who’ve been around for a while, but then, we’ve got some new blood in, if you will, that really have quite a résumé of diving. Although they might not have the college experience, they do have a lot of experience in diving, so it’s kind of a unique dynamic.”

The championship mindset the seniors possess can boost their success and the leadership they demonstrate to the younger Hawkeyes.

“We have that senior leadership where I think they can take that big step and be championship performers and do well, but then we’ve got a young bunch … that we are really excited about as our team really comes together,” head coach Marc Long said.

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The main goals for the season are the same as fans can expect for almost any sport: to perform at the top NCAA level and go for conference titles.

To do that, the coaching staff works to put people in positions where they can succeed.

Both the swimming and diving teams started off the season strong with a 3-0 finish in the first meet. Coming from that were four Big Ten honors, as well as seven Hawkeyes posting NCAA diving standards.

“We want to keep advancing,” Waikel said. “We just want to keep climbing that mountain. Last year, I think we had a really good season, and we want to repeat that and do better.”

A big difference from last season to this is the level of focus and confidence the diving team, specifically,