While the bulk of Iowa’s swimming and diving season has consisted of dual meets against Big Ten foes, both the men’s and women’s teams will begin competition in a different style of meet today.

The fourth annual Minnesota Invitational begins today at the Jean Freeman Aquatic Center. It serves as the second invitational this year for the women and the first for the men. The women first placed in fourth out of six teams at the SMU Classic in October.

The men come in with a dual meet record of 1-3 and the women stand at 3-2. Most recently, the women topped Rutgers back on Nov. 8.

“I have been looking forward to the Minnesota Invite all season,” senior Sam Dumford said. “There will be plenty of great competition there, and it is a perfect time to showcase what the team can bring to the table this year. We’ve had it marked on the calendar.”

The four-day event will feature some of the top teams in the country including Arizona, California-Berkley, Harvard, Michigan, Texas, and host-school Minnesota.

In the most recent TYR/CSCAA men’s rankings released on Nov. 13, Texas is first, followed by California. Michigan is ranked fifth, Arizona is No. 20, and Iowa is No. 23. Harvard also received votes.

In the women’s rankings, California is third, Michigan is 18th, Minnesota is 21st, and Iowa also received votes.

The men’s team has competed against Michigan already this season in a three-team battle with the Wolverines and Indiana on Nov. 2. The Hawkeyes were defeated by Michigan, 218-82.

The women’s team has also faced Michigan this year, falling 173-127 on Nov. 1.

Both Iowa teams took on Minnesota in Iowa City on Oct. 26, when the men triumphed 156-144 and the women were defeated 157-143.

While Iowa did not participate in the Minnesota Invitational last season, they did swim at the 2017 edition of the event. The Hawkeyes finished as the team runner-up behind the Gophers.

The Iowa men finished first in five events, second in 11, and third in six. The Iowa women took home one first-place finish, six finishes in second place, and eight in third.

RELATED: Iowa women’s swim/dive gets impressive dual meet win ahead of midseason invitational

Then-sophomore Hannah Burvill broke the Iowa record in the 100-free with a time of 49.10 in the finals to claim third place. She has since broken her own record, dropping to 48.94 in 2018.

A number of athletes competed on this year’s roster swam at the event as underclassmen alongside Burvill.

This year’s contest will feature preliminary races starting each day at 10 a.m. with the finals beginning at 6 p.m.

After the Minnesota Invitational, the Iowa women’s team will compete against Iowa State in the annual Cy-Hawk Series at 6 p.m. Dec. 13 in Ames. The men will take a break until Jan. 11, while the divers return to Minneapolis from Dec. 15-22 to participate in the USA Diving Winter National Championships.