UCLA Swimming Thumps Iowa In First-Ever Meeting Between Big Ten Opponents

UCLA Bruins Vs. Iowa Hawkeyes

• January 9, 2026
• Los Angeles, California
• Short Course Yards (25 yards), dual meet
• Full Meet Results (PDF)
• Team Scores: UCLA Women 179 – Iowa Women 101

A first-ever meeting between the women’s-only programs at UCLA and Iowa on Friday belied the new paradigm of the coast-to-coast Big Ten Conference.

It was ironically very nearly the same temperature in Los Angeles as it was in Iowa City on Friday, with an unseasonably cool day in California (high of 66) and an unseasonably warm day in Iowa City (high of 58).

Nonetheless, the sun was shining on the Spieker Aquatics Center and the host Bruins came away with a win. This is the 39th unique opponent for UCLA and the 37th unique team they’ve defeated since the program launched in 1974. Iowa, a program that launched the same year, has now raced against 60 different unique programs, albeit not all of them collegiate – they raced the Tippicannone Swim Club in 1984 and Canadian side Etobicoke in 1988.

In the pool on Friday, UCLA opened the racing with a tone-setting, dominating performance in the women’s 200 medley relay. The team of Rosie Murphy (25.52 back), Sarah Bennetts (27.90 breast), Gizem Guvenc (24.98 fly), and Claudia Yovanovich (22.53 free) swam a 1:40.93, winning the race by nearly four seconds ahead of Iowa.

The senior Murphy, an IM’er by trade, flexed her versatility at the meet by winning three individual events in three different strokes. That began in the 100 back, which she won in 54.14 to lead a UCLA 1-2-3 sweep. It carried forward to the 200 breaststroke where her 2:18.49 fended off a 2-3-4 finish from Iowa, and the 100 fly where she again won in 54.60.

That butterfly time is a new lifetime best for the 31st-place finisher in the 400 IM from last year’s NCAA Championship meet. A big finish to her senior taper could be the difference-maker for Murphy to decide whether to carry on with her career post-college. She was 6th in the 200 IM at the US Open in December in long course in 2:12.50 and 5th in the 400 IM in 4:45.64. Those were both lifetime bests.

The Hawkeyes were led individually by Olivia Swalley, who picked up the team’s only individual win of the meet. She topped the 200 IM in 2:04.39, beating out UCLA’s Gwinn Applejean (2:04.54) thanks to a dominant breaststroke leg.

Iowa wrapped the meet with wins in the last two events of the day. In spite of UCLA taking three of the top four spots in the 100 free, Iowa won the 400 free relay in 3:23.65. The relay included Payton Flowers (51.06), Rachel Dildine (51.70), Audrey Olen (50.70), and Jenna Kerr (49.82). Nobody on that winning relay is older than a redshirt sophomore (the anchor Kerr).

UCLA finished 2nd in 3:23.89, including a 49.58 anchor from Alexis Schaffer in what was her only swim of the meet.

The overall times at the meet were typical of heavy winter break training for both Iowa and a generally very young UCLA team.