Feb. 11, 2018
by Tony Jones
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Some four University of Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimmers posted NCAA B-cut qualifying standard times on Sunday, as Irish competitors won five event finals during the last day of racing in the Ohio State Winter Invitational at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
Claire DeSelm (women’s 200 backstroke), Alyssa Storino (women’s 200 breaststroke), Katie Smith (50 freestyle), John Paul Becker (men’s 200 IM) and Rebecca Walton (women’s 1650 freestyle) each took first place in event final heats. Rex Riley (men’s 200 breaststroke) added an NCAA B-cut time to join the qualifying standards of DeSelm, Storino and Smith.
The Notre Dame women’s team, and both sets of Irish divers, begin the 2018 ACC Championships on Feb. 14 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Top Irish Performances
Women’s 200 Freestyle – Kelly Jacob placed third in the event final with a time of 1:49.55.
Women’s 200 Backstroke – Claire DeSelm notched an NCAA B-cut with a finals swim of 1:59.08 to claim the race victory.
Men’s 200 Backstroke – John Paul Becker took fifth place with a time of 1:50.48.
Women’s 200 Breaststroke – Alyssa Storino claimed the top spot in the finals of the event with an NCAA B-cut time of 2:14.64. Storino’ preliminary time of 2:14.06 was also good enough for an NCAA qualification standard.
Men’s 200 Breaststroke – Rex Riley claimed third place with an NCAA B-cut time of 1:59.72. Riley’s preliminary swim of 1:58.29 was the fastest in the field for the prelim round. Jack Russell placed sixth in the final heat with a time of 2:00.73.
Women’s 50 Freestyle – Katie Smith was the race winner with a finals time of 22.80 (22.76 prelim) for an NCAA B-cut. Kelly Jacob finished fourth in the ‘A’ final with a time of 23.20.
Men’s 50 Freestyle – Daniel Fujan took seventh in the ‘A’ final with a time of 20.61. David Stewart was just behind in eighth with a time of 20.66.
Women’s 200 Butterfly – Carolyn Kammeyer was ‘A’ final runner-up with a time of 2:03.64 to lead Notre Dame. Paige Kaplan was right behind in third place after touching in with a time of 2:03.84.
Women’s 200 IM – Alyssa Storino brought home an event runner-up result with a time of 2:03.07. Claire DeSelm finished fifth with a time of 2:05.33.
Men’s 200 IM – John Paul Becker led the way for Notre Dame in first in the top final with a time of 1:49.89.
Women’s 1650 Freestyle – Rebecca Walton was first to the wall by more than 30 seconds, winning the event final with a time of 16:33.04. Sammy Steigerwald finished fifth in 17:14.20.
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Tony Jones, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2012 and coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame softball, men’s soccer and swimming and diving programs. A native of Jamestown, New York, Jones is a 2011 graduate of St. Bonaventure University, and prior to arriving at Notre Dame held positions at the University of Louisiana Monroe and with the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills.