PRIMER: Cyclones Ready for Cardinal & Gold Meet

Iowa State swimming and diving will prepare for the start of their season with the Cardinal and Gold meet Friday night at Beyer Pool.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR – Distance Freestyle, Breaststroke, Backstroke, and Diving

Corinne Guist returns to the pool ready to set the pace in distance freestyle events. Look for her in the 500 freestyle, in which she secured three wins in the 2024-25 season, making her a key contributor for her squad.

Grace Swoboda will lead the breaststroke group, showing off her offseason progress in the 50 and 100 breast. In her rookie season, she broke the Iowa State freshman record in the 100 breast with a time of 1:01.02, making her the second-fastest performer in program history in the event. This August, Swoboda took her talents to California where she placed 10th in both the 50 breast (37.12) and 100 breast (1:11.01) B finals at the TYR Summer Championships, gaining valuable experience heading into her sophomore season at Iowa State.

In the backstroke events, Lili Neisser is one to watch in both the 100 and 200 back. Last season, Neisser earned a spot in the 100 back finals at the Hawkeye Invitational, setting a personal best time of 56.89. She followed that performance with another PR in the 200 back (2:02.64) at the 2024 Big 12 Championships. Throughout the 2024-25 season, Neisser recording 11 top-five finishes across her backstroke events.

Anja Peck looks to show off her endurance and versatility, competing in both breaststroke and IM events. This summer, Peck won the U.S. Open Sectionals in the 200-meter breast, where last season she recorded a time of 2:13.82 to rank her fourth on the All-Time Top Performer List in the event.

On the boards, Maggie Bendell and Kate Mitchell are expected to make an impact as they are both competing the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events after trips to NCAA Zone Diving Championships in 2024-25. Bendell scored personal bests in both events last season with a 281.93 in the 1-meter and a 289.59 in the 3-meter. Mitchell found herself earning nine top-three finishes in the 24-25 season, with her top scores being 278.63(1m) and 290.18 (3m).

ON DECK – Alumni Meet & Nebraska

The Cyclones will compete in their Alumni Meet on October 10th and will open their regular season at home with a dual meet against Nebraska on October 11th.

Players Mentioned

Maggie Bendell

Corinne Guist

Kate Mitchell

Lili Neisser

Anja Peck

Grace Swoboda

Sponsors

Iowa State University Athletics