The ISU swimming and diving has had an up and down year in wins and losses, but not in its drive to succeed when it matters most, team members insist.

This weekend, Iowa State finishes its regular season with one final meet at Kansas. This is no ordinary meet, though.

Events have been switched around to make them shorter. Instead of the 500-yard freestyle, for example, it will be 400 yards, and instead of the 200 freestyle, it will be only be 150.

“The reason for this change is because the Kansas coach [Clark Campbell] and I wanted to have the girls focus on competing rather than times to prepare them for conference,” coach Duane Sorenson said.

With the changes, the meet’s format will be a refreshing change of pace for the team.

“The events will be kind of different so we plan on just going out there and racing, and to show Kansas what were made of,” sophomore Jenny Vondenkamp said.

The Cyclones come in to this meet having lost their last two meets, but still remain confident that they can win.

“I think if we do our best and really work hard at it, I believe we can beat them,” Vondenkamp said of the competition this weekend.

Sorenson feels the changes could give the Cyclones a bit of an edge.

“I feel that it could be a close meet because the races are a bit different in length,” Sorenson said. “I look for our team to go out there and put up a good fight. I expect the team to show a lot of heart and desire and do all of the little things right. All we can do is just go and compete hard.”

This is the last of the regular season meets and the whole team has come along way since the beginning of the season.

“I think that we have been much more consistent in our practicing and training compared to last year,” said Sorenson.

Vondenkamp feels the team is ready on multiple levels.

“We have come together a lot this year as a team,” Vondenkamp said. “We’ve seen a lot of individuals shine along with our team all together and the relays are performing well also.”