GREENSBORO, North Carolina — The No. 17 Notre Dame men’s swim team travels to Greensboro this week to compete in the ACC Championships, starting Wednesday, Feb. 24 and continuing through Saturday, Feb. 27. In 2020, the Notre Dame men placed sixth in the conference.
Last week, the Irish women’s team and men’s divers competed, and the women placed fifth in the ACC, headlined by a bronze-medal performance from senior diver Kelly Straub on platform.
The men’s swim team enters the postseason with a 3-1 dual meet record for the 2020-21 season, the only defeat coming at the hands of No. 13 Louisville by a very slim margin. Eight male swimmers have turned in a total of 21 NCAA B-Cut times this season, including sophomore Jack Hoagland’s six and junior Josh Bottelberghe’s five. Hoagland’s 8:49.95 in the 1000 Free is the fourth-fastest SCY time in the NCAA this season.
The meet will serve both as a chance to compete for a title, and a chance to prepare for the next step at the NCAA Championships.
“What a lot of the teams in the ACC really try to do is look at this more like the ACC basketball tournament,” head swim coach Mike Litzinger said. “It’s awesome, because we all get together and we all fight it out, but next meet is where you really want to excel.
“I’ve always felt this since I was brought in: Notre Dame needs to be a national presence. And so, what we do at the NCAA level is the ultimate goal.”
DETAILS
Date: Feb. 24-27, 2021
Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center (Greensboro, NC) – no spectators permitted
Schedule: https://theacc.com/documents/2021/2/15/2021_ACC_Swim_Dive_Championships_Week_2_Schedule.pdf
STREAMING INFORMATION (ACC NETWORK EXTRA ON THE ESPN APP)
- Wednesday, Feb. 24, 4-7 p.m. ET: https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=ec25daa8-297c-40b5-9e8a-9569730544d1
- Thursday, Feb. 25, 10 a.m. ET – 9 p.m. ET: https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=afb0d527-5ae1-4d3a-96c2-23f720901a94
- Friday, Feb. 26, 10 a.m. ET – 9 p.m. ET: https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=71b46d48-37cd-49f0-bc11-9810368f92bb
- Saturday, Feb. 27: 10 a.m. ET – 9 p.m. ET: https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id=25a9d9f0-fe4b-48ee-93b2-9d05f3c39bb8
LITZINGER’S SCOUT
“Especially in this short year, every performance counts, so we just have to compete. If we compete and you make a big final, have a good finish at the ACC Championships, chances are, you’re moving on to the next meet.
“We’ve put ourselves in a great spot; I think we’re in as good a shape as we possibly can be right now, and they’re swimming fast. We’re just looking forward to an opportunity to compete against our peers, enjoy each other. Once we get to Greensboro, we’ll be happy and we’ll be excited, and that’ll translate into good performance.”
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