Friday night’s season-opening intrasquad meet for the Iowa State swimming and diving teams was alarming in more ways than one.

During the second event of the meet, the women’s 1,000-yard freestyle, the fire alarm started buzzing at the Beyer Hall pool.

The siren went unnoticed by swimmers, coaches and fans until firefighters arrived at the scene.

The women even finished their race before the pool area was evacuated.

Fortunately, it was a false alarm resulting in no injuries or damages.

Jennifer Marsters, a sophomore in architecture, was swimming the 1,000-free when the alarm went off.

“I heard something, but I thought it was the announcer talking,” Marsters said. “It did not bother me until I finished my swim.”

The fire siren was not the only surprise at the intrasquad meet.

The women’s team had four swimmers who clocked personal best times, and the men also performed well in the season opener.

Men’s coach Trip Hedrick said the fan support and the performances by his freshmen were pleasant surprises for him.

The men’s team had outstanding races from six freshmen.

Johan Andersson, a senior in business, said the freshman class is training hard and is doing a good job handling the transition from high school to college.

Hedrick agreed with Andersson that the freshmen are progressing.

“The new swimmers really stood up to the challenge at the intrasquad,” Hedrick said.

“I felt real good about how the meet went.”

He said he hopes the Big 12 home opener against Missouri on Oct. 31 will generate an even larger crowd.

Duane Sorenson, who is in his first season as the ISU women’s coach, said he was excited about how well his team swam and is looking forward to the upcoming Big 12 Invitational.

“This is a good time to see the other conference teams and how we stack up to them,” Sorenson said.

“The goal at this meet is to have seasonal bests and improve on point standing from last year. Beating a specific team is not what we are going to focus on.”

Lindsay Tempel, a junior in communication disorders, had her fastest split time in the 100-yard freestyle. She also anchored the 400-yard freestyle relay in 53.90.

“That was my fastest 100-free time in two years,” Tempel said. “It was so exciting because by the end of the meet, everyone was excited because the whole team swam well.”

Aleisha Kraft, a junior in elementary education, said the ISU divers also had a good meet.

One reason for the success is due to the increased number of divers. The women’s team has seven members this season, while the men’s team has two.

“It is exciting because we have more divers than last year and training is going well,” Kraft said.

Kraft and Erin Cowan were the top finishers in the women’s 1-meter and 3-meter diving competitions.

On the men’s side, Steve Mohabir and Jim Zagaria finished only one point apart in the three-meter event.

Mohabir won the three-meter with a score of 220.275.

Sorenson said the intrasquad meet helped build confidence for the team heading into the Big 12 meet to be held Oct. 24-25 in St. Louis.

Hedrick said the upcoming invite will be good because no scores are kept, making it more fun and less competitive for the swimmers.