Iowa swimming and diving set to host Hawkeye Invitational
The Hawkeyes will compete at home, hosting the Hawkeye Invite for the first time since 2015.
The Men’s 200m IM compete for the third heat during the second day of USA Swimming Junior Nationals at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center on Thursday, Dec. 7, 2017.
November 15, 2018
Iowa swimming/diving will host the Hawkeye Invitational this weekend for the first time since 2015.
The meet is a preliminary for the Hawkeyes to see how they can handle a big meet before they host the men’s Big Ten Championships in late February.
Teams that will compete in the swimming events are Minnesota (M/W), Missouri State (M/W), Grand Canyon (M/W), South Dakota (M/W), South Dakota State (M), SMU (W), Purdue (M), and Nebraska (W). The competitors in the diving events are Omaha, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Northern Iowa, and Kansas.
This invitational will be a true test for the Hawkeyes, because it is the first time all season for them to compete at a three-day event. The Iowa men also want to get some revenge on Minnesota after a close loss earlier this season.
“We lost a close one to Minnesota earlier this year, and we hope to improve on that,” senior Michal Brzus said. “We should be racing some of our best times of the season. This will help us to do our best to compete and come out with the win this week. We also have some great freshmen on the team, and we can’t wait to see what they can do at this meet.”
The Hawkeyes welcomed 11 newcomers this season. The meet will be some of the swimmers’ first time competing in a three-day event, and the coaches want to see what they can do.
“We have a lot of newcomers. As coaches and as a team, we get to see them in that race mode for three-days straight, which we haven’t been able to see yet,” Iowa head coach Marc Long said. “We are looking to really learn a lot about what’s happening, when and how we are racing, and how we are preparing. Ultimately, we want to step up and win these events. We will learn in a competition setting a lot about this team.”
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This will be a good competition for both the men and women to show off their talent. The men will swim against two Big Ten teams that rank in the top 25: Minnesota (No. 20) and Purdue (T-25). The Iowa women will also face two tough Big Ten competitors in Nebraska and No. 16 Minnesota.
“Something we are excited about is swimming against two Big Ten teams at our invitational this year on the women’s side,” senior Devin Jacobs said. “I haven’t had the chance to swim against Nebraska before Big Tens ever. It will be cool to face them in our home pool, because I know they have been tough competition for us at the end of the season. It will be nice to get a taste of the tough competition now.”
Action will begin today and continue through Saturday at the Campus Recreation & Wellness Center. The preliminaries will start at 10 a.m., diving competition will start at 1 p.m., and the finals will begin at 6 p.m. each day.
After the invitational, the Iowa men’s team will not see any action until after winter break. The women, though, will compete against Iowa State in Cy-Hawk dual in Campus Rec on Dec. 7. Both the women’s and men’s squads will travel together during winter break to do some training away from the cold weather in Iowa.
