IOWA CITY, Iowa — A pair of University of Iowa men’s swimming and diving team school records fell during the second day of the Hawkeye Invitational. Freshman Roman Trussov and sophomore Grant Betulius swam to the top times in the 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke, respectively.
Through two days of competition, the Hawkeyes are currently third in the five-team field with 386 points. Michigan is leading the Invitational with 807 points, followed by Notre Dame (506), Denver (292) in fourth and Wisconsin-Milwaukee (214).
“It was a great night of swimming,” said UI head coach Marc Long. “You can’t ask for much faster swimming. We broke more school records, and the divers did an excellent job. Roman broke the record in the 100 breast, and Grant in the 100 back, in times that have traditionally gotten into NCAAs. It was a fun night, and we’re excited to get back out tomorrow.”
Trussov, a native of Kazakhstan, shook off a less than stellar start to finish third in the 100 breast stroke with a time of 53.60, an NCAA “B” qualifying standard. Trussov bested former Hawkeye Dragos Agache’s record of 53.77, a mark that stood since 2007.
Betulius bettered his own record in the 100 backstroke, becoming the first Hawkeye to break the 47 second mark. The sophomore finished the race as the runner-up, posting a time of 46.97 seconds — an NCAA “B” mark –, breaking his previous mark of 47.17.
Iowa also had two other competitors finish among the top-12 in the 100 breaststroke. Junior Andrew Marciniak posted a collegiate-best and NCAA “B” cut time of 54.88 to finish fifth, while sophomore Korey Schneider was 12th in 55.78. Freshman Mike Nelson, meanwhile, won the “C” final in 56.36 seconds. Marciniak’s time is the third fastest all-time at Iowa.
Iowa senior Byron Butler and junior Dustin Rhoads finished third and sixth, respectively, in the 100 back “A” final. Butler posted a collegiate best time of 47.62, a time that is the second best in school history and an NCAA “B” time, while Rhoads had a season-best time of 48.56 seconds.
The Hawkeyes opened the night with a strong performance in the 200 medley relay. Iowa’s “A” relay consisting of Betulius, Trussov, Butler and freshman David Ernstsson finished in a tie for second place with a time of 1:27.81. The time is the second fastest in school history.
Iowa’s “B” relay featuring Rhoads, Marciniak, senior Mitch Taylor and sophomore Brian Donatelli touched the wall in 1:28.63 to finish fifth in the relay. The time is the fourth-best in the UI record books.
Courtesy of a collegiate best, Butler finished third in the 100 fly, finishing in a time of 47.48 seconds. The mark is the second fastest in school history, edging his previous best of 47.48 set earlier this season at Minnesota. Betulius also tallied a top-seven showing, finishing seventh with a time of 48.75. Betulius’ prelims time of 48.41 is the seventh best in the Iowa record books.
Junior Tyler Lentz tallied a seventh place finish in the “A” final of the 400 IM with a time of 3:59.00. During the morning prelims, Lentz swam a season-best time, touching the wall in 3:54.36, an NCAA “B” mark. The Hawkeyes’ Manuel Belzer posted a career-best time of 3:58.10 to place 12th overall, while junior Kyle Noser was 15th in 4:02.96.
The Hawkeyes had two of the top seven finishers in the 200 free. Senior Jordan Huff led the way with a fifth place showing, finishing with a time of 1:37.57, while Ernstsson was seventh in 1:38.20. Both competitors posted season-best times in the prelims. Huff touched in an NCAA “B” time of 1:37.32, while Ernstsson clocked a 1:37.68, a time that is 10th in the Iowa record books.
Iowa closed out Saturday night’s final with a fourth place finish in the 800 freestyle relay. Huff, Ernstsson, Betulius and senior Patrick Weigand finished with a time of 6:32.75.
Freshman Addison Boschult posted a seventh place finish in the 1-meter springboard with 285.95 points. The point total was a personal best.
The final day of the Hawkeye Invitational begin tomorrow with 10 a.m. (CT) preliminaries.
