Aug. 7, 2004
STANFORD, Calif. – Rising sophomore Alan Carter (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park H.S.) took 12th place in the 100-meter backstroke to lead a trio of Notre Dame swimmers in the ConocoPhillips Summer National Championships, held at Stanford University’s Avery Aquatics Center. Ted Brown (Kokomo, Ind./Western H.S.) and Louis Cavadini (South Bend, Ind./Riley H.S.), both teammates of Carter, also competed in the national long-course meet, with Brown registering a pair of top-30 finishes. Carter, representing the Pittsburgh-area Jewish Community Center swim team, posted a time of 59.07 in the preliminaries, which was tied for the 11th-fastest mark and earned him a spot in the Friday evening “B” final (to determine 9th-16th places). Carter improved upon his time, going 58.77 to end up 12th. Brown became the first Irish Aquatics swimmer ever to qualify for the evening finals at the national championships. In Thursday’s 400 individual medley, he notched his best-ever prelim time with a 4:33.43 to come in 22nd and qualify for the “C” final. It also stood as the second-best time of his life in the race. Brown went 4:33.79 at night to maintain his position and finish 22nd. Brown registered a lifetime best in the 400-meter freestyle, taking 28th with a 4:03.80 on Friday, while Cavadini finished 35th in the 100 butterfly with a time of 57.41. Brown and Cavadini both represented Irish Aquatics, a club team not affiliated with Notre Dame, though it rents the Rolfs Aquatic Center as its practice facility and is coached by Irish mentor Tim Welsh. All three swimmers were competing in the Summer National Championships for the first time. Various other current Notre Dame student-athletes registered qualifying times for the meet, but elected not to compete. For full results of the 2004 ConocoPhillips Summer National Championships, please see www.2004swimnationals.org.