Mission accomplished, at least for now.
One of Northwestern head coach Bob Groseth’s goals before the end of the regular season was for his men’s swimming and diving team to break five pool records. The Wildcats accomplished that feat Saturday en route to a 188-162 win in Iowa City – in fact, they topped it.
The Cats smashed three pool records at Iowa’s Fieldhouse Pool, adding to the three they broke Jan. 18 in a victory at Illinois-Chicago. Now they head to the Big Ten championships with a record of 6-1 (2-1 Big Ten) and a five-meet winning streak.
Sophomore Tony Swanson holds two of the three new records after first-place finishes in the 200-yard individual medley and the 100 backstroke. He demolished the 16-year-old 200 IM record by almost two seconds, winning the event in 1:48.62.
Leading off the 400 medley relay with his signature backstroke, Swanson beat the record established in 2000 with a time of 48.86. He and the rest of the medley team – sophomore Aaron McCracken, junior Kellan O’Connor and senior Nick Barnes – won the race in 3:19.28.
“We didn’t have very many meets against Big Ten schools, so this meet was like a stepping stone before Big Tens,” Swanson said. “It gave us a glimpse of what should be happening in our swimming.”
Another NU swimmer who illustrated the progress of the team was O’Connor, whose winning time of 1:46.48 in the 200 butterfly broke the two-year-old Fieldhouse record.
These three pool records, combined with the three NU swimmers who broke the 200 fly record at Illinois-Chicago, exceeded Groseth’s goal by one.
Swanson and junior Mike Shue also posted NCAA B-Standard times last weekend – Swanson with his first-place time of 1:47.24 in the 200 back and Shue in the 500 free with a time of 4:26.72.
Rounding out his outstanding meet, Swanson also placed first in the 100 and 200 free, winning in 45.43 and 1:39.55.
“We dominated in freestyles and IM this weekend,” the sophomore said. “We should come out winning these events at Big Tens.”
Iowa took a backseat to NU in butterfly competition, too. In the 100 fly, sophomore Mark Hamming’s 49.48 was good for first, while O’Connor won the 200.
NU took both the sprints and the long-distance events. The Hawkeyes were no match for NU senior Adam Kennedy, who won the 50 free in 20.97. In addition, sophomore Tommy Lockman outlasted his competition in the 1,650 free, finishing first in 15:50.98.
The Cats dropped only one relay in Iowa. Besides the record-breaking 400 medley, the Cats won a pair of freestyle relays. The team of Swanson, Hamming, Barnes and Kennedy won the 200 free in 1:22.91 and the 400 in 3:03.30.
But the Cats didn’t win every race. Though the meet against Iowa was “not rigorous,” according to Swanson, “it’s not that they weren’t competent.”
The Hawkeyes swept the entire diving competition, with powerhouse Swedish senior Simon Chrisander winning both the 3-meter and the 1-meter with scores of 321.23 and 310.20.
The weekend’s dual meet was a good one for Iowa’s foreign recruits. Accompanying Chrisander’s two victories were two wins by senior Marko Milenkovic. The Slovenian standout landed in first place in the 100 back with a 50.47 and in the 400 IM with the fastest time of 3:54.02.
In breaststroke competition, Iowa’s Romanian sophomore Andrei Prada won the 100 in 55.90, and Hawkeyes junior Chris Brunson took the 200 title in 2:03.59. Though the Cats dropped the 200, McCracken recorded a season-best time of 2:03.84.
Iowa won just one relay – the 200 medley, won in 1:31.47.
“The events they finished ahead of us were close,” Swanson said. “It was just the way the cards fell.”
