NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The No. 20 Notre Dame men’s swim team heads to Greensboro, North Carolina, this week to compete in the 2021 NCAA Championships.
Junior Josh Bottelberghe, freshman Tyler Christianson, sophomore Jack Hoagland and junior Zachary Smith will represent the Irish at the national meet. Qualifying outright with seven times, the Irish are eligible for 11 individual swims. In addition, the Irish 800 Free Relay was selected for the championships, and the team of Hoagland, senior Sadler McKeen, sophomore Cason Wilburn and sophomore Alec DeLong will represent Notre Dame in the event.
Click for meet notes.
DETAILS
- Date: March 24-27
- Schedule: Click here
- Live Results: Click here
- Broadcast/Live Stream: ESPN3
- Location: Greensboro Aquatic Center (Greensboro, North Carolina)
SWIMMER: QUALIFYING EVENT (QUALIFYING TIME)
- Bottelberghe: 100 Breast (52.31) and 200 Breast (1:52.87)
- Christianson: 400 IM (3:44.49)
- Hoagland: 500 Free (4:11.26), 400 IM (3:40.99) and 1650 Free (14:31.83)
- Smith: 200 Fly (1:42.57)
- Relay: 800 Free Relay (6:19.07): Hoagland, McKeen, Wilburn and DeLong
Bottelberghe is a three-time qualifier for the national meet, and after a breakout sophomore season, has continued his success by breaking the program 200 Breast record at the ACC Championships and turning in a 100 Breast swim at the conference championships that was just .06 seconds off the Irish record. Along with those events, he will also be eligible for the 200 IM (1:46.41).
Christianson posted a 3:44.49 in the 400 IM at the ACC Championships, placing ninth in finals and first in the B Final, which was the sixth-best time of all performances in finals. His time ranks him as the fourth all-time performer in the event in Notre Dame records. He will also be eligible for the 200 Breast (1:54.32) and the 200 IM (1:45.09).
The 2021 ACC Most Valuable Swimmer, Hoagland claimed gold in all three of his events at the conference championships, a feat which was reached in the ACC most recently in 2018. The MVP honor was the first in the ACC by an Irish male swimmer, as he joined former Notre Dame women’s swimmer Emma Reaney in 2014.
Smith rounds out the individual Irish selections with a 1:42.57 in the 200 Fly, achieved in a time trial at the ACC Championships. At the time, it was the ninth-best time in the NCAA, and improved his time as the second-fastest performer in program history in the event. He will also be eligible in the 100 Fly (46.84).
In the relay, Hoagland will join senior McKeen and sophomores Wilburn and DeLong. McKeen qualified for the NCAA Championships on his own in 2020, while both McKeen and Wilburn were on the 2020 qualifying 800 Free Relay for the Irish. DeLong is a newcomer to the championships, after turning in a 1:34.95 to skyrocket to fifth all-time among Irish performers in the event last week.