Iowa State Swimming and Diving Unveils 2025-26 Schedule

AMES, Iowa – Iowa State swimming and diving head coach Matt Leach introduced the schedule for the 2025-26 season on Thursday morning. Leach enters his second season as head coach of the Cyclones with longtime head diving coach Jeff Warrick and second yr assistant coach Morgan McGhee.

The Cyclones start preseason motion with their annual Cardinal and Gold meet on October 3 earlier than welcoming again Cyclones from the previous on October 10 for the primary alumni meet. Iowa State’s first common season motion will happen Saturday, October 11 in opposition to Nebraska in Ames. The Cyclones may even host Illinois (October 17-18), Iowa (January 31) and Kansas (February 6) at Beyer Pool in 2025-26. Illinois is one of some new additions to the swimming and diving slate.

“We are excited to announce our 2025-26 meet schedule,” mentioned Leach. “A specific change to previous years that we want to highlight is the addition of Illinois to our dual meet schedule. Illinois is a strong and quickly rising Big Ten program that I am looking forward to seeing in the pool and on the boards.”

Following the Illinois twin, Iowa State will journey to South Dakota State and South Dakota in late October. ISU will take the next three weeks to gear up for the Hawkeye Invite (November 18-21) earlier than reaching Thanksgiving break. Cyclone swimmers will return to motion in early December to journey to the US Open Championships whereas divers will attend the Minnesota Invitational.

Following winter break, Iowa State travels to Cedar Falls to satisfy in-state rival UNI for its first twin of 2026. The Cyclones may even host Iowa later within the month for the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series twin.

“It is always exciting to continue to honor our past rivalry meets and continue these meets into this year against Kansas, Nebraska and to host the Cy-Hawk Series dual meet against Iowa! We will also be traveling to the US Open Championships to continue our growth on a national stage along with preparing for the 2028 US Olympic Trials.”

Another new addition to the slate is the Big 12 Duals, happening January 16-17 in Houston.

“A big shift in Big 12 conference dual meets will be our Big 12 Duals which will be a high-energy, fun atmosphere,” mentioned Leach. “The thinking behind these Big 12 dual meets is to highlight the strength of every Big 12 swimming and diving program. These duals will see the Big 12 Conference split into two different locations, east and west, and will highlight the top of each program’s swimming and diving roster. In these dual meets we will have a fun, fresh and interesting set up to see competition at a new level.”

The Cyclones’ final twin meet takes place at Beyer Pool on February 6 as Iowa State welcomes Kansas to Ames. The twin additionally marks the ultimate common season competitors earlier than Iowa State gears up for the Big 12 Championships, held in Greensboro, North Carolina this season.

Iowa State has its sights set on a number of different postseason competitions, together with the National Invitational Championships (NICs), NCAA Diving Zone Qualifications and the NCAA Women’s Championships.