IGHSAU hold state swimming at Iowa’s CRWC

IOWA CITY — The Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union is all about tradition.

Since its inception 100 years ago, the organization has been all about building those for the high school girls of Iowa.

Over the years, those traditions have evolved for both the sports and the athletes in those sports. Another evolution will take place starting Thursday as the state swimming and diving meet will be held here for the first time at University of Iowa’s Campus Recreation and Wellness Center.

Swimming preliminaries will begin at noon Thursday, followed by the diving competition at 3 p.m. Swimming finals are set for noon on Friday. Both days of the meet will be streamed free of charge on the IGHSAU digital network.

The meet was first held in 1974 in Fort Dodge and remained there until 2003 when it moved to the Linda Bloom Natatorium inside the Marshalltown YMCA, where it was held from 2004 until last year.

"Honestly there are pros and cons to the move," said Cedar Rapids Washington Coach Megan Lewis. "Certainly the University of Iowa is set to be a much faster pool. I like being closer and we can sleep in our own beds and the on deck area is much better for teams."

However Lewis said some elements from the Marshalltown years cannot be replaced.

"Not much compares to the spectator seating in Marshalltown," she said. "Having the fans right on top of the competition pool and close to the deck makes for a unique experience."

Iowa City High Coach Mandi Kowal's swimmers also will get to sleep in their homes, but said a special element of the state meet experience will be missing.

"We won't be traveling and staying in a hotel which provided some great team bonding," she said. "So now we will adjust to ensure we continue to make the experience special."

No program in the state likely has many more long standing traditions than Washington. Lewis worked many years with the boys’ program under the late Chris Cruise, who followed Hal Krizan and Jim Voss.

Lewis and her swimmers have had many pre-state rituals over the years.

"In Marshalltown we traveled overnight Friday," she said. "We would do a stop at Walmart, dye hair, stop at Goodwill, even Dairy Queen on the way out of town. We would sit in the lobby of the hotel and just create memories.

"Now that we aren't staying overnight, we change what that looks like. This is partially due to the timing changes as well but we will create new memories and traditions."

Kowal and Lewis said the shift, moving the meet up one day, should not make much, if any, difference for the swimmers.

"It's a shift of a day and we did make some small changes to our training, something easy to rectify," Kowal said. "I know that having it during the work week has made it harder for family and friends to attend for obvious reasons."

For Lewis, no matter the venue, the state meet is the culmination of a long season of work for all who qualify.

"I'm excited," she said. "State for us is always the cherry on top. I know that coaches across the state are excited and teams are ready to compete."