When Sean Mathews swept both butterfly events during a failed comeback at Iowa last season, it was a career-defining meet for the emerging sophomore. Mathews posted the most first-place finishes at the meet for the Cats, besting top season record-holder, Eric Nilsson.
But at this weekend’s home matchup against the Hawkeyes, Mathews will be leading the charge as the Wildcats look to avenge last season’s loss.
‘Iowa is one of the teams that could really expose our depth issues, so we’ll need everyone, not just our top guys, to swim well,’ coach Jarod Schroeder said. ‘I am probably going to play around with our lineup to hopefully take them by surprise.’
Mathews holds four season best times for the Cats, and was named Big Ten Player of the Week. He will need help from the 18 other NU swimmers in order to counter a 30-man Iowa squad. Coming off two consecutive wins after a training session in Colorado Springs, Colo., the Cats will face their first conference opponent since a nine-point loss to Wisconsin in the Fall.
‘We have a lot of momentum going into this meet,’ Mathews said. ‘After the training trip I think everyone, from freshmen to seniors, has started to face each event with a lot intensity.’
In their first meet of 2010, the NU defeated Notre Dame and posted eight season-best times from six different swimmers. The momentum carried over into last weekend’s double dual meet against Carthage and Lewis as NU cruised to a pair of wins, improving its dual meet record to 4-3 on the season.
Despite the recent success, the Cats are still 0-3 in the Big Ten. The Iowa (2-1) bested Michigan State and Wisconsin, both teams that defeated NU in November. Iowa’s only loss this season came against No. 10 Minnesota.
‘We’re not intimidated heading into this meet, and I think a lot of that confidence comes from how tight we all are,’ junior captain Peter Park said. ‘There is so much comradery on this team. It’s the closest team that I have ever been on.’
Even though freshmen fill half the roster, the Cats are diving into the second half of the season as a more cohesive unit.’ Schroeder said the freshmen are showing improvement in training and in meets, despite depth issues earlier in the season.
Top recruit Charlie Rimkus has demonstrated the growing success of the freshmen, posting three season best records, just one shy of Mathews. Fellow classmates Varun Shivakumarand Jan Hanulikare also on the record books for their backstroke times. Hanulik moved into second place for NU in the 100-yard backstroke after a fast swim at Notre Dame.
‘Everyone has been working on getting faster in their own events,’ Park said. ‘The way we’re going to beat Iowa is if all that work comes together at the right time, and hey, maybe we can even get a little support from a home crowd.’
