Jan. 18, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Junior Michael Bulfin notched 387.45 points in the 3-meter diving event Friday evening to break the Rolfs Aquatic Center record previously held by Andy Maggio, whose 383.85 total set in February of 2002 stood for almost six years.
Bulfin also took first off the 1-meter board with a count of 340.65, making him one of three Irish athletes to claim the top spot in their respective events.
Though Bulfin’s efforts were encouraging for the Irish, Notre Dame (3-5) fell to league opponent Louisville, 169-134, for the first time in the two team’s last five meetings.
“The good news is that we improved,” said Irish head coach Tim Welsh. “We were faster in several events than we’ve been all season. Our divers performed very well from A-to-Z. Those things are all a good sign as we make preparations for the Big East Championship next month.
“The bad news is that Louisville was faster. To their credit, they raced very well. They were extremely tough where they needed to be, and they have had this kind of a season all year long. They’ve been racing fast since early November. But we did get faster and that’s our objective. We came in here tonight and we’re significantly faster than we were last Saturday and that’s a step in the right direction.”
Notre Dame will have little time to rest as they travel to Northwestern for a Jan. 19 meet with the Wildcats beginning at 3 p.m. (ET).
200 Medley Relay: Louisville got off to a strong start during the backstroke as Carlos Van Isschot surfaced out front … the gap was closed by the Irish breaststroker Sam Pendergast who pulled in even with Vali Preda … during the fly, Notre Dame was placed on the defensive from another Cardinal relay … Louisville maintained their first place lead as the race for second between John Lytle and UofL’s Jordan Wessels heated … Wessels had a distinct lead coming out of the final turn, but Lytle proved faster in the water … the two were matched stroke-for-stroke during the final ten yards … Lytle stretched at the finish to lock in second place for his squad with a time of 1:32.72.
1,000 Free: At the 500-yard mark, Andrew Deters (9:25.17) distinguished a slight lead over Louisville’s Shane Lichtenberg … Michael Sullivan (9:32.97) trailed them both by eight yards … at the turn completing the 750-yard mark, Deters and Lichtenberg were dead even, though Lichtenberg began to lengthen his advantage and pulled away in the final stretch … Deters and Sullivan finished in front of fourth-place Christopher Douville (9:35.42).
200 Free: Just past the midway point Louisville’s Andrei Radzionau took the lead over Lytle (1:39.57) and Joshua Nosal (1:41.94) … Lytle showed a burst of speed on the last lap, but the gap between himself and Radzionau proved too large to overcome.
100 Back: There was a close race in the final 10-yards between Andrew MacKay (51.30) and Andrei Teudean of Louisville for second place, with Teudean barely beating out the top Irish finisher.
100 Breast: Pendergast was even with three Louisville swimmers going into the final turn and had a small lead with half a length to go, finishing third in 57.02.
200 Fly: LeBlanc was just ousted for gold honors, clocking in at 1:49.20 … Louisville’s Adam Madarassy finished in 1:49.20
50 Free: Sprinting to a third-fourth finish were Thomas Van Volkenburg (21.31) and Andrew Hoffman (21.46).
100 Free: Lytle (45.40) powered through the waves on the last length and claimed a half-second victory.
200 Back: MacKay staked second with a time of 1:52.50 despite a strong closing chase … Sullivan was third in 1:52.79.
200 Breast: Daniel Rave (2:06.87), Pendergrast (2:08.66), and Peter Koppel (2:09.45) each finished behind UofL’s Vali Preda (2:04.37).
500 Free: It was a tight race out of the 100-yard mark … LeBlanc (4:36.62) and Deters (4:36.72) each showed bursts of speed down to the wire, thought LeBlanc tapped in two spots ahead of his teammate.
100 Fly: Ross Moore was able to hold on for a second-place finish in 50.69, the top Irish swimmer in the event.
200 Individual Medley: Deters (1:56.37) fell just behind from a five-way tie after the backstroke portion of the event … he would break loose in the final leg but slid back to second after a push by Preda (1:54.34) was enough for the Cardinal win.
400 Free Relay: Coming in second was the tandem of Lytle, Hoffman, Nosal, and Van Volkenburg (3:04.19).
3-meter Diving: Bulfin’s record-setting performance was followed by Sam Stoner (352.80), Eric Lex (335.40), and Steven Crowe (314.40).
1-meter Diving: The show was stolen by Bulfin (340.65) off the short board … Stoner (338.47), Lex (301.72), and Crowe (298.34) rounded out the fop four.
–ND–