HAWK TALK

March 2015

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129 T he University of Iowa men's swimming and diving team has a long history, and the Hawkeyes want to add another chapter this week at the 2015 Big Ten Championships. e 2015 Hawkeyes will be representing a group of alumni comprised of 16 Olympians, 105 individual Big Ten Conference champions, and members of three Big Ten Conference team titles. "ere's a tremendous history that goes along with the Iowa swimming and diving program," said UI head coach Marc Long, a University of Iowa alum. "We need to represent this team to the best of our ability for everyone who has been a member of this program. "Our alumni continued to make progress over the years and we have a great opportunity to build on that tradition and honor it by swimming fast and doing the best we can." Iowa will host the four-day championship event Wednesday through Saturday at the Campus Rec- reation and Wellness Center Natatorium (CRWC) in Iowa City. Iowa welcomes a competitive field featuring six teams nationally ranked in the Col- lege Swimming Coaches Association of America's (CSCAA) top-25 poll. e Hawkeyes last hosted the event in 2012, claim- ing the 200 and 400-freestyle relay crowns and finished fih overall. Long, now in his 11th season at the helm of the program, has high expectations for the week's competition and welcomes the highly ranked field. "We're excited to host again," said Long. "It's a dif- ferent flavor to swim in your own pool in front of your home crowd, and we're looking forward to it. "We're gunning for titles in all of our races. e Big Ten is as competitive and challenging as it gets and we've been training for it all season. We're looking for fast swims out of all our guys whether it's Grant (Betulius), Jerzy (Twarowski), Roman (Trussov), or anyone else." Several members of the UI roster have experienced the Big Ten Championships, but this will be the first go-around for nine newcom- ers. "We spend a lot of time develop- ing our young guys and getting them prepared for these bigger meets," said Long. "Fortunately, we have a lot of great leader- ship in our veterans who have been around and they help show the underclassmen the ropes. It's a young group, but they've been great all year and will be ready to go." e 2015 Big Ten Championships are scheduled to begin Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. (CT). e first three finals sessions will all be available to fans via live streaming on BTN Plus on BTN2GO. ursday, Friday, and Saturday's preliminaries will be streamed live on Hawkeye All-Access on hawk- eyesports.com. Saturday's finals session will not be streamed, and Big Ten Network will televise Satur- day's finals on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. (CT). MARCH SCHEDULE March 1 Big Ten Long Course Invitational March 9-11 NCAA Zone Diving March 26-28 NCAA Championships

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