ISU swimmers and divers will look forward to the fans at the Beyer Pool on Dec. 13 to gain a home advantage against Iowa in the upcoming Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series.

The Cyclones (3-1-1, 0-1) have defeated the Hawkeyes (4-2,1-2) in four of the last six Cy-Hawk matches held at Beyer and will look to improve that record to 5-2.

The diving team has already competed against Iowa this year in the Iowa Invitational this past weekend in Iowa City. The Cyclones took home 7th and 10th place finishes at the invitational. For swimmers, it will be the first time this season they compete against the Hawkeyes.

ISU coach Duane Sorenson recalls his most memorable matchup as coach when Iowa State defeated Iowa 152-148 on December 7, 2007. That matchup was the closest between the two teams since 1981 when the Cyclones beat the Hawkeyes 75-74 in Iowa City. Only one point separated the two rivals with five races left in the 2007 meet.

The Cyclones placed first in four of the five events, and second in the final race of the meet.

“About six years ago the meet went down to the last relay, last swimmer, last turn, and whoever touched [at least] second was going to win the meet, so our goal was to just get second,” Sorenson said. “We were tied with their second [relay] team, it was just stroke for stroke. The place was going crazy and luckily our swimmer touched second and we ended up winning the meet.

“Otherwise, [the meet] would have been a tie, but just that intensity, that excitement, and that’s what you want college athletics to be about.”

The magic at Iowa State may not be limited to just Hilton, Beyer has also presented many challenges to opposing teams as they have defeated four of their last six opponents at home dating back to last year.

“I would say the environment is very positive [at Beyer], and at the end of the day it’s all a competition and it’s all for fun,” sophomore ISU swimmer Maria Gannon said. “Even though we want to win, we’re going to have our heads raised high.”

The pool is only a six-lane 25-yard pool compared to Iowa’s 50-meter pool at the Campus Recreation and Wellness Center in Iowa City, so noise from the 800 fans who pack the home of the host of two NCAA meets (1963, 1971) and numerous conference championships in Ames becomes a lot more intensified.

“Because they have a 50-meter pool, it’s a lot more spread out and so it’s a lot bigger space,” Sorenson said. [Beyer] is a little bit more of an intimate setting. The noise carries better here. There you could be cheering, but it kind of gets lost because it’s such a big facility.

Swimmers and divers will need Cyclone fans to pack all 800 seats at Beyer in order to gain the full home advantage over Iowa at 6 p.m. on Dec. 13.

“The fans help a lot and just being at our home pool, where we train everyday helps,” said senior ISU swimmer Sarah Thompson.