All year the Northwestern men’s swimming team has been waiting for the Big Ten Championships. And this weekend against Iowa, the Wildcats will get a final tune-up before the big event.
The Cats will begin their two-day meet at 6 p.m. tonight at the Norris Aquatics Center. NU is looking to bounce back from a decisive loss to No. 4 Michigan last weekend.
Although they said they hope to beat Iowa, the Cats will be thinking more about getting ready for the conference championships, held in three weeks in Ann Arbor, Mich. NU will swim every event but the 800-yard relay to prepare for the championships.
“Iowa is a team we’d like to beat, but our focus is on three weeks from now,” junior Mark Hamming said. “That’s how we’re going to measure the success of our season.”
For the most part, the swimmers will see whether they can shave a second off their times. Recently in practice they’ve been working more on speed than endurance. This weekend they’ll have a chance to gauge their improvement.
“The most important thing is that the guys swim fast and that they do their best times of the season,” NU coach Bob Groseth said. “That way they have some momentum going into Big Tens.”
A win over Iowa should give the Cats additional confidence before the big meet. Team records are irrelevant in swimming, but NU hasn’t beaten any Big Ten squad this season. It’s hard — although not impossible — to envision the Cats finishing at the top of the tournament without recording a win over a Big Ten foe.
Groseth, who coached Iowa State for 10 years, said he thinks the Cats are a stronger squad than the Hawkeyes.
“(Iowa) has some selected good swimmers, and they’re stronger than they’ve been the last two years,” he said. “But their depth is not as good as ours.”
Despite the Hawkeyes’ lack of depth, their divers should help make this weekend’s meet competitive. Iowa junior Timo Klami won last week’s Big Ten Diver of the Week award for the second time this season.
Even though they’ve competed in dual meets every weekend this quarter, the swimmers said they feel well rested. Groseth has been putting his swimmers through shorter, more focused practices.
“In the end more rest — if you’ve put in the work — will equal faster times and better results,” Hamming said.
While the swimmers said they’re most focused on faster times and championship preparation, they still want to beat Iowa.
And no one wants to crush the Hawkeyes more than Groseth.
“I hate the Hawkeyes because I coached Iowa State for 10 years,” he said.
NU vs. Iowa
Friday, Saturday
Norris Acquatics Center
