Illinois vs Iowa (Women’s Dual Meet)

• Friday, January 12, 2024
• ARC Pool, Champaign, IL
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results

TEAM SCORES

1. Iowa – 166.5
2. Illinois – 133.5

Illinois hosted Iowa for a Big Ten women’s dual meet on Friday at the ARC Pool. The Hawkeyes left Champaign victorious in a 166.5-133.5 decision. A big part of Iowa’s win was their sweeping the relays and diving events. Between the 2 relays and 2 diving events, the Hawkeyes outscored the Illini 50.5-21.5.

The day kicked off with the 400 medley relay, where Iowa saw Kennedy Gilbertson (56.36), Olivia Swalley (1:03.10), Scarlet Martin (55.70), and Jenna Kerr (50.38) team up for a 3:45.54. They beat Illinois’ ‘A’ handily, although Illinois did have the fastest flyer in the field, as Sydney Stoll split 54.79 on their relay.

Iowa would also close the meet with a relay win, taking the 400 free relay in 3:25.84. In that relay, Gilbertson (51.75), Kerr (51.10), Sabina Kupcova (51.29), and Martin (51.70) combined to earn the win.

Outside of the relays, Scarlet Martin was a double event winner on the day. She swept the fly events, starting with a 2:01.95 in the 200 fly. It was a very solid dual meet performance for Martin, who holds a personal best of 1:57.91, and she won the event convincingly as well, touching first by well over 3 seconds. Martin would then go on to win the 100 fly by nearly 2 seconds, swimming a 54.74.

Olivia Swalley would go on from the medley relay to win all 3 of her individual events, making her the only swimmer in the meet to do so. Swalley, a star freshman for the Hawkeyes, swept the breaststroke events and took the 400 IM as well. In the 100 breast, she put up a 1:03.48, which comes in 2 seconds off her best of 1:01.45. From there, she went on to win the 200 breast in 2:16.86, pulling away from Illinois’ Sara Jass on the final 50. Swalley and Jass were locked in a back-and-forth battle throughout the race but Swalley had the faster closing speed, seeing Jass finish 2nd in 2:17.66.

Swalley would close out her meet with a 4:21.54 to win the 400 IM. Though she was the fastest breaststroker in the field, it was the backstroke leg where Swalley really established a big lead. She split 1:06.03 on the backstroke leg off 33.17 and 32.87 50 splits.

Kennedy Gilbertson and Jenna Kerr were also members of winning Iowa relays that won individual events as well. Gilbertson took the 100 back in 56.23, winning the race by nearly a second. Kerr went on to win the 500 free in 4:58.69, touching as the only swimmer in the field under 5:00. The 500 free was actually a 1-2-3 punch for Iowa, as Olivia Fantum took 2nd in 5:05.68 and Alix O’Brien came in 3rd with a 5:06.41.

While Iowa won the majority of events, Illinois had a hold on the sprint free races. The Illini posted the 4-fastest 50 free times on the day, seeing Laurel Bludgen win in 23.76. Teammates Lily Olson (23.96), Logan Kuehne (24.08), and Molly Yetter (24.45) rounded out the top 4.

Olson would go on to be the winner in the 100 free coming out of the first break, swimming a 51.73. While Illinois didn’t have quite the same dominance in the 100 as they did in the 50, Bludgen came in 3rd with a 52.43.

Illinois’ Sydney Stoll took the 200 free in 1:50.80, winning the race by well over 2 seconds. She swam a very consistent race, splitting 26.21 on the opening 50, then going 28.14, 28.23, and 28.22 on the remaining 50s. Stoll would also go on to win the 200 back, swimming a 2:02.41.

Illinois also saw Adelaide Reaser pick up a win in the 1000 free, where she swam a 10:21.16. It was an incredibly close race, as Iowa’s Alix O’Brien came in 2nd with a 10:21.39. There was a bit of a back-and-forth, however, the pair was right with each other for the most part of the race.

DIVING WINNERS