The University of Iowa women’s swimming & diving team may have won its battle for reinstatement (even if the men’s team didn’t), but that doesn’t mean that the program wasn’t still devastated by the initial decision to cut the team.
The school is only expecting to have 12 athletes on its 2021-2022 team – 8 swimmers and 4 divers. That includes just one freshman, diver Makayla Hughbanks. A spokesperson for the school has confirmed that the 12 athletes listed publicly are all that the team is expecting on the varsity roster this season.
Number of athletes on Iowa women’s swimming & diving roster, by year:
- 2021-2022: 12 – 8 swimmers & 4 divers
- 2020-2021: 24 – 22 swimmers & 2 divers
- 2019-2020: 34 – 30 swimmers & 4 divers
- 2018-2019: 24 – 18 swimmers & 6 divers
- 2017-2018: 32 – 26 swimmers & 6 divers
- 2016-2017: 31 – 25 swimmers & 6 divers
Based on the currently-public rosters for each season.
While 2018-2019 saw a smaller roster, in general, Iowa has had a low-30s roster, which is a similar size to most of their Big Ten opponents.
But for next season, as they try to rebuild in the same beautiful facility but with a new coaching staff (Nathan Mundt and Mona Groteguth-Garcia) and no men’s team, the Hawkeyes will be significantly short-handed.
Iowa finished 8th out of 13 teams at last year’s Big Ten Championship meet. While the return of 20-point diving scorer Sam Tamborski as the team’s only senior helps, only 49.5 of the team’s 216 individual points from last season will return. That doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll be in last place at Big Tens – Illinois only scored 15 individual points at Big Tens last season – but even with no Michigan State, it will be hard for them to crack the Top 10 again in a deep conference.
Note: Rutgers, which was last at last year’s Big Ten Championships, only had a few athletes competing because of COVID-19. Rutgers is expecting 15 swimmers and 6 divers this season – still a small roster by their standard, but that will push them down the rebuilding path further.
Of note, among the four swimmers who were named plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the University of Iowa that said cutting the program would infringe upon Title IX, none are returning. Sage Ohlensehlen graduated and is attending law school at SMU. Christina Kaufman, a would-be junior, has not announced her plans. Alexa Puccini is a junior on the roster at Arizona, while school record holder Kelsey Drake also graduated.
Both a spokesperson for the University of Iowa and new head coach Mundt declined to discuss the roster, or plans to regrow it, with SwimSwam.
Iowa women’s swimming & diving roster, 2021-2022 season:
- Sam Tamborski, Sr., Diving
- Ariel Wooden, Jr., Free/Fly
- Anna Brooker, Jr., Free/Back
- Payton Lange, Jr., Free/Back
- Aleksandra Olesiak, Jr., Breast/IM
- Kennedy Gilbertson, Jr., Back/Free/Fly
- Georgia Clark, Jr., Back
- Zoe Pawloski, Jr., Back
- Maddie Black, So., Free
- Sarah Ballard, So., Diving
- Claire Hartley, So., Diving
- Makayla Hughbanks, Fr., Diving
Does anyone know if the team will receive the full number of scholarships or if they will be reduced? I hope one of the cost saving measures was not to cut some scholarships.
The B1G is better with a vibrant Iowa. My best to these strong women swimmers as they battle through adversity. We are pulling for you
You can watch Iowa AD Gary Barta explain that if there was Big Ten football that they would’ve never cut Men’s Swimming here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuWWvbJfaRc. However, there was Big Ten football in 2020 and he never backtracked to restore the four sports that had been eliminated. He’s dead to me.
Agreed You might be able to bring a foreign swimmer (s) even for 2nd semester. Canadians are used to the weather See who is transfer portal. Who is taking gap year. Swimmers in Junior College (Indian River etc). Open tryouts for on campus students.
Great pool. Good university. He can sell opportunities Heck of a challenge.
Maybe try to get some graduate students with 5th-year eligibility. One gift of the Pandemic is the over-supply of eligible student athletes.
Wow, that’s really hard!
Looks like they have exactly one breaststroker and zero distance freestylers on the team. Will make for a challenging dual meet season.
I also wonder what the training environment will be like. On the upside, everyone gets their own lane. On the downside, they can’t really create cohesive training groups (“distance lane” or “breaststroke group”) with so few people. Seems like it would be lonely.
This problem is squarely Gary Barta’s fault as the Iowa AD. The ongoing festering ethical mess that is the Iowa Athletic Department under Barta’s leadership (lack thereof) and his attention to nothing outside of the Football, Basketball, and Wrestling programs lead to this situation. It took a lawsuit just to get this women’s program back in action and feet dragging lead to the new Head Coach not being hired until June while the uncertainty of the situation lead many possible Midwest recruits to look elsewhere.
New UI Coach Nate Mundt has an uphill job the next three recruiting cycles but he’s been doing the footwork at swim meets and putting in the hours making the phone calls. I just… Read more »
In FULL agreement Mr. Spellman 👍👌👏👏👏
Please feel free to Open those closet doors and let those skeletons Speak out!!!
They will get next to no support from the A/D who only resurrected the team when he was told they would lose the lawsuit for sure if they did not reinstate the team. Iowa is still at risk for losing the lawsuit. Perhaps the best facility in the nation, the site of the invention of the butterfly, and this disaster at the hands of a lying, misogynist, homophobic athletic director.
SPOT ON!!!
From a former Hawkeye Men’s Asst. Coach & coach of the most decorated NCAA Hawkeye swimmer in history.
Still, and Forever, absolutely DISGUSTED with the U of Iowa Administration, from President & Board, down to Athletic Administration.
My Iowa graduate degree is tarnished, due to the ridiculous decisions made at this institution of “higher education”(???) by the administration, from the top, on down!!!
Shame on you Iowa!!