Ames Today

Iowa State University's women's swimming and diving team is set to begin its season with the Cardinal and Gold meet on Friday night at Beyer Pool. The event will serve as a preseason showcase for several key athletes in distance freestyle, breaststroke, backstroke, and diving events.

Corinne Guist returns to competition after securing three wins in the 500 freestyle during the 2024-25 season. She is expected to be a significant contributor for the Cyclones in distance freestyle races.

Grace Swoboda leads the breaststroke group this year. In her freshman season, she broke the Iowa State record for the 100 breaststroke with a time of 1:01.02, making her the second-fastest performer in program history for that event. Swoboda also competed at the TYR Summer Championships in California this August, placing tenth in both the 50 and 100 breast B finals.

Lili Neisser will compete in both the 100 and 200 backstroke events. Last season, she reached the finals of the 100 back at the Hawkeye Invitational with a personal best of 56.89 seconds and set another personal record of 2:02.64 in the 200 back at the Big 12 Championships. Neisser recorded eleven top-five finishes across her backstroke events during last season.

Anja Peck is scheduled to participate in both breaststroke and individual medley (IM) events. This summer, Peck won the U.S. Open Sectionals in the 200-meter breaststroke. Last season, she posted a time of 2:13.82 in that event, ranking her fourth on Iowa State's All-Time Top Performer List.

In diving, Maggie Bendell and Kate Mitchell are expected to compete in both one-meter and three-meter events following their participation at NCAA Zone Diving Championships last season. Bendell achieved personal bests of 281.93 points (1m) and 289.59 points (3m), while Mitchell earned nine top-three finishes during last season with scores of 278.63 (1m) and 290.18 (3m).

The Cyclones will host their Alumni Meet on October 10 before opening their regular season against Nebraska on October 11.