Feb. 21, 2018
Wednesday Results | Championship Central
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The University of Notre Dame men’s swimming team turned in a pair of top-five relay finishes on day one of the 2018 Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Swimming and Diving Championships. The No. 19 Irish are in fifth place after the opening day of swimming competition at the Greensboro Aquatic Center with 195 points.
Duke leads the way with 292 points after Wednesday’s relays, with No. 20 Florida State in second place after scoring 291 points. No. 21 Virginia Tech is third with 275 points, followed by North Carolina in fourth place with 207 points.
The Irish 200 medley relay team got the first swimming session started with a fifth place finish, posting a time of 1:25.33 to hit the NCAA B-Cut. Notre Dame followed it up with another fifth place finish in the 800 freestyle relay, touching the wall in 6:21.70.
The Irish entered the swimming portion of the championship in fifth place after the men’s divers finished with 95 points last week.
Day two of the 2018 ACC Swimming and Diving Championships is slated to begin at approximately 10 a.m. (ET) on Thursday, Feb. 22 with the preliminary heats of the 500 freestyle.
Coach Litzinger Said
“We are off to a solid start with some very respectable relays. I am excited about some of the splits we are seeing, which is a good indicator of the next few days.”
“As everyone can tell by the score, it will be an incredibly competitive meet. That is what is great about the ACC, it’s depth and the level of coaching is incredible.”
Top Irish Performances
Men’s 200 Medley Relay – Notre Dame’s Rob Whitacre, Steven Shek, Justin Plaschka and Daniel Speers swam an NCAA B-cut of 1:25.37 to take fourth place. The Irish contingent posted the program’s best time in the relay this season.
Men’s 800 Freestyle Relay – The Notre Dame lineup of Zach Yeadon, Aaron Schultz, Benjamin Jany and Sadler McKeen posted an NCAA B-cut time of 6:21.70 for fifth place. The top eight finishers all posted NCAA A-cut or B-cut standards.
Men’s 200 Butterfly Time Trial– Junior Matt Grauslys competed in the 200 butterfly time trial and finished with a time of 1:44.31, which is an NCAA B-cut. Grauslys’ time is the fastest recorded by a Notre Dame swimmer this season.
Men’s 50 Backstroke Time Trial– Freshman Brendan Santana was the lone participant in the 50 backstroke, posting a time of 21.51. The time is the best for a Notre Dame swimmer during the 2017-18 campaign.
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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.