Swimming and Diving Tennis

Swimming and diving’s tumultuous year

Grace Smith/The Daily Iowan Iowa’s Christina Crane, Zoe Mekus, and Lexi Horner hug after competing in the 100 yard breaststroke time trial during the sixth session of the 2020 Big Ten Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the HTRC on Feb. 22.

After a tumultuous 2020-21 season, the Hawkeyes will return to the pool in 2021-22 under the direction of a new head coach.

For the first time since 1916, the University of Iowa does not have a men’s swimming and diving team.

The UI made the decision to cut men’s swimming and diving, along with men’s tennis and men’s gymnastics on Aug. 21, 2020, because of the financial deficit Iowa Athletics is facing because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 1934, former Iowa swim and dive coach David Armbuster and Hawkeye swimmer Jack Sieg invented and perfected the butterfly stroke in UI’s Field House pool.

Like Iowa men’s swim and dive, Hawkeye women’s swim and dive was also slated for discontinuation at the end of the 2020-21 academic year.

In September 2020, however, four Iowa women’s swimmers — Sage Ohlensehlen, Alexa Puccini, Christina Kaufman, and Kelsey Drake — filed a Title IX complaint against the UI, alleging that its decision to cut its women’s swim and dive program made it non-compliant with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

After a months-long legal battle, UI Athletics elected to reinstate its NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving program in perpetuity.

The Hawkeye women will compete under new leadership in 2021-22. Marc Long, formerly the head coach of both Iowa men’s and women’s swim and dive, declined to return to coach the Iowa women in 2021-22.

Iowa women’s swim and dive will have to rebuild its roster in 2021-22. The program housed 34 athletes in 2019-20. In 2020-21, only 24 women’s swimmers competed in Iowa’s Black and Gold.

Iowa tennis undergoes major changes

At the end of the 2020-21 academic year, the Iowa men’s tennis program was discontinued. Iowa women’s tennis will, however, continue to compete in 2021-22.

In 2021-22, the Iowa women’s tennis team will be the only NCAA Division I program to call the HTRC home.

At the end of the 2020-21 academic year, the University of Iowa discontinued its men’s tennis program to combat financial struggles brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last season, the Hawkeye men won just five of their 15 regular season matches, finishing eighth in the Big Ten Conference.

Despite their poor record, the Iowa men still made history. Senior Kareem Allaf became Iowa’s all-time leader in combined singles and doubles wins April 4.

Junior Will Davies and sophomore Oliver Okonkwo teamed up in doubles, eventually becoming the country’s second-ranked doubles pair. Their No. 2 national ranking is good for a UI record.

Conversely, the Hawkeye women found a great deal of success as a team in 2020-21, finishing the regular season with a 12-6 overall record.

Sophomore Alex Noel tied the Iowa women’s tennis record for most Big Ten weekly honors in a single season with four. She also climbed to a program-best No. 13 national ranking via her 22-0 regular season record in singles.

Last season, the Hawkeye women earned a No. 4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament.

Most of Iowa’s lineup will be returning in 2021-22, with the exception of Elise van Heuevelen Treadwell — the Iowa women’s tennis program’s third-all-time winningest player in doubles and singles combined.

Grace Smith/The Daily Iowan Iowa’s Joe Tyler hits the ball at the Iowa Men’s tennis meet v. Indiana in the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex on Feb. 19. Iowa defeated Indiana with a score of 5-2. 69 | HAWKEYE VIEW THE DAILY IOWAN | WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 25, 2021 | DAILYIOWAN.COM