Oct. 27, 2017
By Leigh Torbin
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The No. 14/10 Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams completed a historic month of October by claiming their second top-25 wins of the month on Friday afternoon as the men’s team beat No. 23 Purdue, 169-131, and the Irish women beat No. 16 Purdue, 163-137, in West Lafayette.
Abbie Dolan led the charge for Notre Dame’s women’s team, winning three individual events as she touched the wall first in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle competitions. Alice Treuth also claimed two wins for the Notre Dame women, topping the field in the 100 and 200 backstroke. Notre Dame added some hard-earned points in women’s 1-meter diving behind Claire Andrews and Erin Isola’s one-two punch.
On the men’s side, the Irish had a trio of double individual winners in Aaron Schultz, Rob Whitacre and Zach Yeadon. Whitacre also swam the opening leg of the winning 200 medley relay team for Notre Dame while Schultz contributed to the 400 freestyle relay which took first place.
Both Notre Dame squads wrapped up their impressive Octobers at 4-1 overall, 2-0 in ACC competition, and laying claim to the highest team rankings in school history. The dual victories over the Boilermakers mark the second ranked wins of the year for each team, the others coming on Oct. 7 when Notre Dame claimed what is believed to be both teams’ first ever top-10 wins, beating No. 7/9 Louisville at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.
Coach Litzinger Said
“It was great to get a win on the road. It was a scrappy meet against Purdue. Both teams worked very hard to gain an advantage but, as the meet went on, our depth took over. Our group is very tired. This was our fourth consecutive weekend of racing, and it showed a little. Now we can get back to a good routine of training with next weekend off, and focus in on finishing the fall off strong.”
Irish Event Winners
Men’s 200 medley relay (1:29.71) ââ’¬” Rob Whitacre, Garrett Clarke, Justin Plaschka, Tabahn Afrik
Men’s 1650 freestyle (15:20.20) ââ’¬” Zach Yeadon
Women’s 200 freestyle (1:46.52) ââ’¬” Abbie Dolan
Men’s 200 freestyle (1:38.61) ââ’¬” Aaron Schultz
Women’s 100 backstroke (54.59) ââ’¬” Alice Treuth
Men’s 100 backstroke (48.77) ââ’¬” Rob Whitacre
Men’s 200 butterfly (1:49.53) ââ’¬” Matt Grauslys
Women’s 50 freestyle (23.14) ââ’¬” Abbie Dolan
Men’s 50 freestyle (20.69) ââ’¬” Daniel Speers
Women’s 100 freestyle (49.38) ââ’¬” Abbie Dolan
Men’s 100 freestyle (44.69) ââ’¬” Tabahn Afrik
Women’s 200 backstroke (1:55.76) ââ’¬” Alice Treuth
Men’s 200 backstroke (1:46.92) ââ’¬” Rob Whitacre
Women’s 200 breaststroke (2:16.57) ââ’¬” Sherri McIntee
Men’s 500 freestyle (4:28.74) ââ’¬” Zach Yeadon
Women’s 100 butterfly (54.57) ââ’¬” Erin Sheehan
Men’s 100 butterfly (48.51) ââ’¬” Aaron Schultz
Women’s 1-meter diving (279.00) ââ’¬” Claire Andrews
Men’s 400 freestyle relay (2:59.62) ââ’¬” Tabahn Afrik, Justin Plaschka, Aaron Schultz, Daniel Speers
Up Next
Notre Dame will have next weekend off to enjoy a well-deserved break. The road does not get any easier for the Irish after that, although it remains a bus trip and not a flight, as Notre Dame will head south to Bloomington, Indiana, on at 2 p.m. on Nov. 9 to face No. 1/8 Indiana and Cincinnati.
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Leigh Torbin, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2013. A native of Framingham, Massachusetts, Torbin graduated from the University of Massachusetts in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in sports management. He has previously worked full-time on the athletic communications staffs at Vanderbilt, Florida, Connecticut and UCF.