University of Iowa swimmer Tom Schab was in his apartment Friday when he received a notification on his phone: team meeting that morning. That’s short notice, he thought.
Conversing with teammates, Schab learned that other sports would be at the meeting as well.
“We started getting pretty nervous,” he said.
The meeting was in the practice gym at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, the school’s basketball venue. Chairs were spaced apart for social distancing. Schab and 69 other male and female swimmers sat down alongside 14 male gymnasts and 12 male tennis players. Athletic director Gary Barta and some other staffers came in to address the nearly 100 athletes.