The first Big Ten meet of the season did not turn out the way the Michigan State men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams had wanted.

Both the women’s and men’s teams falling to Iowa, 196-103 and 171-126, respectively.

Despite the poor result, the Spartans have reason for optimism.

“I was really pleased. We have a young team and Iowa is a very very good team,” head coach Matt Gianiodis said. “They are a very good Big Ten team. I was really encouraged with how well we competed and how well we kept competing as they moved through all of their events.”

“Some of our freshmen had four events that they had to do and some of them were in a row. They really competed hard, which was encouraging.”

Freshman Lachie McLeish had a great night for the Spartans. He finished first place in the 200-yard freestyle and the 100-yard freestyle.

The men’s 1000-yard freestyle was a close loss for Joe Szczupakiewicz. He was beat by Iowa’s Chris Dawson by five tenths of a second.

Another top performer for the Spartans was junior Nate Weeks. Weeks placed first in the 200-yard butterfly and third in the 100-yard butterfly. He ended the individual events for the night by winning the 200-yard individual medley.

Junior Elizabeth Brown had the best night for the Spartan women. She won the 200-yard butterfly and ended the events by winning the 200-yard individual medley.

Sophomore Sarah Love had a big night as well for the women’s squad, winning the 100 butterfly and finishing second in the 50 freestyle.

“We gained the experience and knowledge that we can clearly compete with a good team and we can clearly compete with a Big Ten team,” Gianiodis said. “Our kids are going to get better as the season goes on. From a confidence standpoint I feel that today is solid.

“We wanted to win, we always want to win, but if you can’t we are able to take a lot of lessons from this and we should be able to move forward.”

The swim team will be on the road next competing in Buffalo, New York on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 to swim against the University of Buffalo and Army.

Sophia Busk is a multimedia journalist for Impact Sports

Photo: Max King/Impact Sports