Ames Today

Iowa State University swimmer Grace Swoboda achieved two top 10 finishes at the TYR Summer Championships held at the William Woollett Jr. Aquatics Center in Irvine, California earlier this month. Swoboda, a rising sophomore, competed in both the 50-meter and 100-meter breaststroke events.

According to Iowa State head coach Matt Leach, "This summer was a very successful Long Course Season for us, and we look forward to building onto that success into the fall. Anytime we have breakthrough on a national stage, it is important to reflect not only on the people or person receiving the accolades, but most importantly the village that helped that athlete/those athletes excel. I continue to go back to our family dynamic first as a way to have people reach the next levels. There were plenty of highlights which included new National Qualifiers, new US Open Qualifiers and a new Sectional Champion. A few highlights came from Anja Peck and Abbi Crum competing at Sectionals with Anja Peck winning the 200 Meter Breaststroke. The culmination of the summer was at Summer Nationals where Grace Swoboda competed in her first of many national meets to come when she finished 10th in the 50 Meter Breaststroke (new best time) and 10th in the 100 Meter Breaststroke. It is the first time in recent memory that the Cyclones had finals swim at a national level competition. Go Cyclones!"

Swoboda reached the B final in both breaststroke events. In the 50-meter breaststroke, she placed tenth with a time of 32.71 seconds after qualifying Tuesday morning and racing again in finals that evening. On Friday, she qualified for and swam in the B final of the 100-meter breaststroke, finishing tenth with a time of 1:11.01—improving her preliminary result by nearly one second.

During her freshman year at Iowa State, Swoboda set a school record for freshmen in the 100-yard breaststroke with a time of 1:01.02, making her ISU’s second-fastest performer ever in that event. She also contributed to a school-record performance by helping teammates Emma Kuhn, Carley Caughron, and Andie Quirke achieve Iowa State's second-best all-time mark in the women's 200 medley relay.