AMES, Iowa – Iowa State swimming and diving head coach Matt Leach announced the schedule for the 2025-26 season on Thursday morning. Leach enters his second season as head coach of the Cyclones with longtime head diving coach Jeff Warrick and second year assistant coach Morgan McGhee.

The Cyclones begin preseason action with their annual Cardinal and Gold meet on October 3 before welcoming back Cyclones from the past on October 10 for the first alumni meet. Iowa State’s first regular season action will take place Saturday, October 11 against Nebraska in Ames. The Cyclones will also host Illinois (October 17-18), Iowa (January 31) and Kansas (February 6) at Beyer Pool in 2025-26. Illinois is one of a few new additions to the swimming and diving slate.

“We are excited to announce our 2025-26 meet schedule,” said Leach. “A specific change to previous years that we want to highlight is the addition of Illinois to our dual meet schedule. Illinois is a strong and quickly rising Big Ten program that I am looking forward to seeing in the pool and on the boards.”

Following the Illinois dual, Iowa State will travel to South Dakota State and South Dakota in late October. ISU will take the following three weeks to gear up for the Hawkeye Invite (November 18-21) before reaching Thanksgiving break. Cyclone swimmers will return to action in early December to travel to the US Open Championships while divers will attend the Minnesota Invitational.

Following winter break, Iowa State travels to Cedar Falls to meet in-state rival UNI for its first dual of 2026. The Cyclones will also host Iowa later in the month for the annual Iowa Corn Cy-Hawk Series dual.

“It is always exciting to continue to honor our past rivalry meets and continue these meets into this year against Kansas, Nebraska and to host the Cy-Hawk Series dual meet against Iowa! We will also be traveling to the US Open Championships to continue our growth on a national stage along with preparing for the 2028 US Olympic Trials.”

Another new addition to the slate is the Big 12 Duals, taking place January 16-17 in Houston.

“A big shift in Big 12 conference dual meets will be our Big 12 Duals which will be a high-energy, fun atmosphere,” said Leach. “The thinking behind these Big 12 dual meets is to highlight the strength of every Big 12 swimming and diving program. These duals will see the Big 12 Conference split into two different locations, east and west, and will highlight the top of each program’s swimming and diving roster. In these dual meets we will have a fun, fresh and interesting set up to see competition at a new level.”

The Cyclones’ last dual meet takes place at Beyer Pool on February 6 as Iowa State welcomes Kansas to Ames. The dual also marks the final regular season competition before Iowa State gears up for the Big 12 Championships, held in Greensboro, North Carolina this season.

Iowa State has its sights set on several other postseason competitions, including the National Invitational Championships (NICs), NCAA Diving Zone Qualifications and the NCAA Women’s Championships.