Swimming and Diving Set to Compete at Kansas

AMES, Iowa - The Iowa State swimming and diving team will head to Lawrence, Kan. to compete in a two day meet on Feb. 4-5 against the University of Kansas Jayhawks. The meet on Friday will begin at 6 p.m. CST and start up again Saturday at 10 a.m. CST.

After a tough loss to rival Nebraska, the Cyclones, 0-2, for the season in conference meets, are looking for a final victory before heading to Big 12 Championships. This weekend's meet will be very beneficial for the team.

"We will be very competitive in some events, and they are a very strong in others," head coach Duane Sorenson said. "We will do well in the breaststroke and IM and they will be very strong in sprints and backstroke."

This meet against Kansas will help both teams prepare for Big 12 Championships February 23-26 in Austin, Texas.

"Both us and Kansas have done this meet for a number of years," Sorenson said. "This meet mimics the time frame for Big 12 Championships. It allows us to race at night, get a meal in, then rest up and get ready to go in the morning."

This meet will be different compared to a typical dual meet.

"50's and 150's of each are designed so that the women will race at a stronger pace," Sorensen stated.

After a successful last meet, the Cyclones diving team is looking to improve scores and prepare for Big 12 Championships.
 
"We are looking for a challenge, we know Kansas will be feeling good and so will we," Diving coach Jeff Warrick said. "We are coming in prepared and ready to climb and go up the ladder."

With this the last chance for the divers to dive in a dual meet before the Big 12 Championships, the format for the divers will be very useful.

"With the two days, it is very similar to Big 12's," Warrick said. "We will be focused on one board one day and another the next."
 
All divers will compete six dives, and then the top three from each team will compete in finals.

"We want all girls to go to finals, but we just can't. We'd love for everyone to be in the top three," said Warrick.

3-meter diving prelims will begin at 4:45 p.m. CST on Friday and finals will be during the normal time during the meet, and Saturday's 1-meter prelims will begin at 8:45 a.m. CST with finals at the normal time during the meet.