After being trumped by Iowa last weekend, the ISU swimming and diving team will look to bounce back Friday night with a win over Northern Iowa.

Head coach Duane Sorenson said the Panthers are in a rebuilding phase, so he expects that his swimmers will have an easy, fun meet.

“We’re going to be able to switch our lineup around and put many of our swimmers in different events — kind of a change of pace,” he said. “So it should be a fun meet for a lot of the kids, swimming events they normally don’t get to swim. It’s going give a chance for some of our second- and third-tier kids to step up and see how they race.”

Sorenson said that three years ago, the Panther swim team was cut, and its coach took a job elsewhere. An interim coach was selected and it has been a challenge for them to recruit good swimmers.

“What I’m doing is trying to match up their swimmers with some of our swimmers so there will be some good races,” Sorenson said.

The divers, however, will be competing only against themselves. Head diving coach Jeff Warrick said Northern Iowa won’t be bringing any divers to the meet, and he wasn’t sure why.

In addition to the absence of Panther divers, Cyclone senior Katie Herman is unlikely to dive because of her nagging foot injury, and junior Hillary Nichols has further injured herself. Nichols has been bothered by a sprained right ankle and just recently reinjured the ankle. She could possibly be ready by Friday, though, he said.

“It’s just one of those things that we just have to wait and see,” Warrick said.

That won’t stop Warrick from trying to put on a show for the crowd, though. At the same time, he will be evaluating his one healthy diver, senior Gail Olson, against benchmark scores.

Warrick said his divers need to be more consistent in their scores if they hope to make the NCAA championships.

Friday’s meet will be the swimming and diving team’s final competition of the semester. The swimmers will go to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., for winter training while the divers travel to San Antonio, Texas. The Cyclones’ next home meet is Jan. 14, when St. Olaf College comes to Ames.

The first race of the Friday night Cyclone-Panther meet is set to start at 6 p.m. in Beyer Pool.