Iowa’s swim and dive teams set for NCAA Championships
After competing in the Big Ten Conference Championships earlier this month, seven Hawkeyes received bids for the NCAA Championships.
Competition is underway during a swim meet at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center on Saturday, Jan. 16, 2021.
March 10, 2021
With the 2021 Big Ten Championships now behind them, Iowa’s swim and dive teams are set to conclude their 2020-21 campaigns at the NCAA Championships.
The men’s and women’s divers will kick off the national championship competition March 11-13, with the NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming Championships to follow March 17-20.
The NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming Championships will wrap up the collegiate swimming and diving season March 24-27.
The NCAA men’s swimming championships were originally going to be held in Iowa City at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center before the University of Iowa decided to discontinue its men’s swimming and diving program at the end of the 2020-21 academic year.
The NCAA subsequently moved the event to Greensboro, North Carolina.
Three Hawkeye divers will be competing at the NCAA diving championships in Lexington, Kentucky: senior Jonatan Posligua, junior Sam Tamborski, and freshman Sarah Ballard.
Posilgua was the Hawkeye men’s leading scorer this season in both the 1-meter and the platform, finishing the Big Ten Championships in 16th place with a score of 301.70.
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Tamborski was a CSCAA All-American in the 3-meter in 2020, and Ballard recorded the Hawkeyes’ best 1-meter score this season, registering a 294.15.
The diving prelims begin at 9:30 a.m. each day and can be streamed live on ukathletics.com.
Three Hawkeye women also qualified for the NCAA swimming championships.
Senior Kelsey Drake will be competing in her second-straight NCAA meet next week. She will compete in the 100 and 200-fly and the 200-meter individual medley.
Joining Drake in those three events is sophomore Mallory Jump. Jump has broken the school record for the 100 fly two separate times this season, most recently recording a 52.30 in the Big Ten Championship prelims.
Freshman Alyssa Graves was the third swimmer on the women’s team to receive an NCAA bid. Graves will be competing in the 1650-free and the 200-fly.
“I wouldn’t say I have any specific times or places I’m going for,” Graves said. “I just want to enjoy this moment with my team and continue to drop time.”
Sophomore Will Myhre will represent the men’s team in Greensboro in the 100 and 200-meter breaststroke. Mhyre broke the University of Iowa record in the 100-meter breaststroke at the Big Ten Championships, posting a 51.70 time.
Myhre enters the NCAA Championships ranked 14th nationally in the 100-meter breaststroke and 43rd nationally in the 200-meter breaststroke.
For Mhyre, the 2021 NCAA Swimming Championships will be his last opportunity to don Iowa’s Black and Gold in the pool.
The NCAA Championships nearly proved to be the last meet in the history of the Iowa women’s swim and dive program too, as the UI was set to cut the program at the end of the 2020-21 academic year.
After a months-long Title IX court battle with Hawkeye women’s swimmers Sage Ohlensehlen, Drake, Alex Puccini, and Christina Kaufman, the UI elected to fully reinstate its women’s swim and dive program on Feb. 15.
After their season concludes, the Hawkeye women will have to rebuild their roster, as Iowa’s 2020-21 squad was 10 athletes smaller than it was in 2019-20.
