Kansas welcomes Iowa State for last tuneup before Big 12 Championship
Kansas vs. Iowa State
Date February 3-4, 2017
Time 6 p.m. / 10 a.m.
Location Lawrence, Kan.
Venue Robinson Natatorium
Heat Sheets Heat Sheets
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Meet Schedule
Friday, February 3 | 6 p.m. start
200-yard medley relay
1,000-yard freestyle
200-yard freestyle
100-yard backstroke
100-yard breaststroke
200-yard butterfly
One-meter dive
50-yard freestyle
Saturday, February 4 | 10 a.m. start
100-yard freestyle
200-yard backstroke
200-yard breaststroke
500-yard freestyle
100-yard butterfly
Three-meter dive
200-yard individual medley
400-yard freestyle relay
LAWRENCE, Kan. – After spending countless hours over the years in Robinson Natatorium’s 14 lanes, Kansas swimming and diving’s nine-member senior class will have a final competition in the pool they call home. The visitor, Iowa State, will compete with Kansas for the second time this season, with a third meeting scheduled at the Big 12 Championship. Swimmers will hit the water at 6 p.m. on Friday, February 3. The meet will conclude with a second session beginning at 10 a.m. on February 4.
Though the seniors will have plenty of time to bid farewell to Robinson Natatorium with their last practices following the meet, the competition serves as a marker of a season coming to a close.
“(Kansas head coach Clark Campbell) made a point to tell all of the seniors to not think of anything as the ‘last of,’ but to instead go out with a bang,” senior Sammie Schurig said. “I haven’t really let myself focus on it being sad. I’m more focused on it being a great last meet in Robinson and more so keeping the energy more positive. I’m putting less pressure on myself and just going out there to have fun with this amazing team and enjoying my last moments with everyone.”
Though the season is winding down, the intensity is ramping up for the Jayhawks, who are in the final stages of their preparation for the Big 12 Championship on February 22-25. The two-day meet will allow the coaches to make necessary adjustments to their strategy for conference competition. Though the coaches will also use input of performances in practice, this will be the final time they can assess their swimmers in a competitive environment.
“We’ve been talking about since returning from Christmas is that we treat each meet as an audition, because we still have some things we need to figure out before Big 12s,” Campbell said. “We have to figure out who’s going to be on the scoring team, the relays, etc. These meets give us a really good picture competitively of where people are leading into championships. It is really important, in this last competitive audition, that we start shoring up scoring teams and relays based on the performances that we’ve done up to this point.”
Kansas and Iowa State last met in November at the Kansas Classic. In a championship-style event that featured six total teams, KU and ISU placed in the top three, with the Jayhawks outscoring the Cyclones 958-520.5. The teams will have a chance to get reacquainted with each other shortly before they meet for a third time in the Big 12 Championship in Austin, Texas.
“We get up for Iowa State emotionally because they’ve been our rival all the way back to the Big Eight,” explained Campbell, a former member of KU’s men’s swim team. “They’re our longest continuous rival that we’ve had, so both programs look at it as a rivalry meet.”
With the men’s basketball counterparts of both squads clashing at 1 p.m. on Saturday, the final day of the meet, KU swimming and diving fans are encouraged to park, free-of-charge, in Lot 61. The parking lot is located at the corner of Sunnyside Avenue and Illinois Street, east of Robinson Hall and past the tennis and sand volleyball courts. The meet will be free and open to the public.
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