Feb. 12, 2006
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team will be gunning for its second straight BIG EAST Conference title this week in East Meadow, N.Y. at the BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships in the Nassau County Aquatic Center. The Fighting Irish won the program’s first-ever BIG EAST title one year ago by knocking off Pittsburgh, who entered as the eight-time defending champion, by 275 points. Competition begins on Wednesday, Feb. 15 and ends Saturday, Feb. 18.
“The BIG EAST has been the focal meet for the entire team,” says Notre Dame head coach Tim Welsh. “What we hope to achieve are lifetime best performances across the board. That’s easier said than done but that’s what we hope for. If we do that, we think the results will be very good. We are conscience and careful about recognizing that our own best performances are the only thing we can control. The field will take care of itself.”
Notre Dame enters the four-day competition as the highest-ranked squad in the 11-team field. The Fighting Irish, who posted a 10-2 dual-meet this season, are ranked 21st in the latest College Swim Coaches Association of America (CSCAA) dual-meet rankings. Pittsburgh is the only other BIG EAST school receiving votes in the rankings as the Panthers are just outside of the top-25. Notre Dame defeated Pittsburgh earlier this season in dual-meet action by a margin of 122-121 in Pitt’s Trees Pool.
The BIG EAST meet will also have a new look this year as the conference welcomed in two strong swimming and diving teams in Cincinnati and Louisville. Another difference from years past is that there is no squad limit for each school.
“I think this is as competitive of a BIG EAST field as we’ve seen the entire time that we’ve been in the conference,” says Welsh. “Removing the squad limit allows our greatest strength to play into the meet. Our greatest strength is our depth and our balance. The fact that we can take 35 guys with a chance to have 35 guys score will definitely play to our advantage.”
The distance freestyle events will be the key for the Irish at the BIG EAST Championship as the team boasts six of the top-10 seeds in the 1,650-yard freestyle, including the top seed in Jay Vanden Berg. The sophomore enters the race as the defending BIG EAST champion and with a season-best mark of 15:40.95. Other factors for the Irish in the event will be Rob Seery, Jace Hopper, Chris Zeches, Patrick Davis and Justin Barber.
Notre Dame also has five of the top-10 seeds in the 500-yard free, with Vanden Berg leading the way as the second seed with a time of 4:29.72. Brown is the third seed, while Brian Freeman, Hopper and Seery also rank among the conference’s best in the event. Brown, who leads the team with 18 individual victories on the year, is also the No. 3 seed in the 200-yard free and Freeman is the fourth seed.
Vanden Berg has posted 13 individual victories so far during the 2005-06 campaign, which places him second on the team. Junior Tim Kegelman is also in double-digit wins with 10.
“We probably have our best chances to win in events such as the 100-butterfly where Tim Kegelman is the defending champion,” comments Welsh. “We also have a returning champion in the 1,650 free with Jay Vanden Berg.”
“All of the events are very important to us,” says Welsh. “The relays are always important because the points are doubled. Relays do not favor team depth, they favor team power so the relays are always a challenge for us because you’re always looking for the superman who is going to be the invincible man.”
Last season, Notre Dame captured a total of five BIG EAST event titles, including four individual crowns. The Fighting Irish also claimed three individual runner-up finishes and three more in relay events. Five Irish swimmers collected third-place finishes to give the team a total of 29 all-BIG EAST honors by 11 different student-athletes.
The Irish feature four athletes that have won individual events previously at the BIG EAST Championships. Senior co-captain Jamie Lutkus won the 400-yard IM as a sophomore to become just the fifth individual BIG EAST champion in program history. He placed second in the event in 2003 and was third last year. He will try to regain the title again this year as he is seeded fourth in the event with a top season time of 4:00.30. He owns the school-record 400-IM time of 3:54.38 and is a four-time all-BIG EAST competitor.
Kegelman is the only two-time individual BIG EAST champion in team history. Kegelman took home titles in the 100-yard butterfly and the 200-IM at last year’s conference meet along with being part of the winning 400-yard medley relay squad. He has earned a total of eight all-BIG EAST honors, including a second-place finish in the 100-fly and a third-place finish in the 200-IM during his freshman campaign. He will also be gunning towards making it back to the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships as he became just the second athlete in program history to make it to that level when he did so last season.
Kegelman is seeded seventh in this year’s 100-fly with a season-best mark of 49.33 and he is seeded eighth in the 200-IM, which is one spot below Lutkus. Their respective top season times in the event are 1:52.54 and 1:52.89.
Also claiming a victory for the Irish at the 2005 BIG EAST meet was current senior Steve Shomberger in the 200-yard backstroke. Shomberger is the fifth seed in this year’s 100-yard back competition.
Senior Tim Randolph has garnered all-BIG EAST honors on five occasions, four of which were in relay events. He is seeded sixth in the 100-breast, an event in which he set the school-record mark of 55.18 at the 2005 BIG EAST meet. He will also look to play another vital role on the Irish relays.
Fellow senior Doug Bauman is five-time all-BIG EAST performer, including three last year. He enters the 200 and 100-back competitions as the fifth and seventh seed, respectively. Bauman placed second in the 200-back in 2004 and was third in the 100-back last season.
Freshman Daniel Rave has had a successful freshman campaign with the Fighting Irish and he will enter the pool for the 200-yard breaststroke as the team’s top seed at No. 4 as he carries a season-best time of 2:04.08.
“We have the largest team in the meet and that gives us a great opportunity to place very well,” states Welsh. “Obviously we’d like to repeat as champions but I think if we focus on the scoreboard, we make a mistake. We need to focus on individual performances from start to finish.”
In the diving events, Notre Dame boasts two of the top three seeds in the three-meter competition. Freshman Michael Bulfin is the No. 2 seed and his sophomore teammate Sam Stoner is third. The Irish have three divers in the top seven spots of the one-meter competition. Stoner is the fourth seed with Bulfin at No. 6 followed by junior Scott Coyle.
Stoner placed fifth at last year’s BIG EAST Championships off of both boards, while Coyle was ninth in the one-meter and 11th in the three-meter. He placed fourth off the three-meter board as a freshman in 2004.
The only events on Wednesday will be the women’s one-meter diving competition along with the 800-yard freestyle relay and the 200-yard medley relay for both the men and women. Preliminary events for the final three days of competition get underway at 10:30 a.m. each day, while finals begin at 6:00 p.m.
For more information on the 2006 BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championships, including results from each day’s action, please log onto bigeast.org.
Stay up-to-date on the Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team by logging on to und.com or by calling the official Notre Dame athletics hotline at (574) 631-3000.
Here is the complete list of Fighting Irish competitors and the events they are entered in for the 2006 BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships.
NAME (seed)
Justin Barber
500-Yard Free (15)
400-Yard IM (12)
1,650-Yard Free (10)
Chris Barnes
50-Yard Free (37)
100-Yard Fly (43)
100-Yard Free (28)
Bill Bauman
200-Yard IM (37)
100-Yard Fly (35)
100-Yard Back (22)
200-Yard Back (37)
Doug Bauman
200-Yard IM (15)
100-Yard Back (7)
200-Yard Back (5)
Ted Brown
500-Yard Free (3)
200-Yard Free (3)
200-Yard Fly (8)
Michael Bulfin
One-Meter Six Dives (6)
Three-Meter Six Dives (2)
Alan Carter
200-Yard IM (25)
100-Yard Back (11)
200-Yard Back (14)
David Cavadini
50-Yard Free (24)
100-Yard Fly (12)
200-Yard Fly (30)
Louis Cavadini
50-Yard Free (11)
100-Yard Fly (10)
100-Yard Free (9)
Scott Coyle
One-Meter Six Dives (7)
Three-Meter Six Dives (14)
Steven Crowe
One-Meter Six Dives (12)
Three-Meter Six Dives (10)
Patrick Davis
500-Yard Free (11)
400-Yard IM (16)
1,650-Yard Free (8)
Nick Fanslau
200-Yard IM (12)
100-Yard Breast (16)
100-Yard Free (21)
Dean Fernandez
200-Yard IM (36)
400-Yard IM (29)
200-Yard Breast (27)
Brian Freeman
500-Yard Free (7)
200-Yard Free (4)
200-Yard Back (6)
Tyler Grenda
100-Yard Breast (10)
200-Yard Breast (8)
Bryan Guarnier
200-Yard IM (11)
200-Yard Free (32)
200-Yard Fly (7)
Patrick Heffernan
200-Yard IM (26)
400-Yard IM (19)
200-Yard Fly (12)
Jace Hopper
500-Yard Free (8)
200-Yard Free (23)
1,650-Yard Free (6)
Chris Kane
One-Meter Six Dives (13)
Three-Meter Six Dives (12)
Tim Kegelman
200-Yard IM (8)
100-Yard Fly (7)
200-Yard Fly (9)
Daniel Lutkus
500-Yard Free (17)
200-Yard Free (15)
100-Yard Free (26)
Jamie Lutkus
200-Yard IM (7)
400-Yard IM (4)
200-Yard Back (13)
200-Yard Breast (19)
Andrew MacKay
200-Yard IM (30)
100-Yard Back (14)
200-Yard Back (19)
Patrick O’Berry
500-Yard Free (29)
200-Yard Free (21)
200-Yard Fly (25)
Graham Parker
200-Yard IM (21)
400-Yard IM (18)
200-Yard Breast (9)
Tim Randolph
50-Yard Free (13)
100-Yard Breast (6)
100-Yard Free (16)
Daniel Rave
200-Yard IM (28)
400-Yard IM (14)
200-Yard Breast (4)
Rob Seery
500-Yard Free (10)
200-Yard Free (7)
1,650-Yard Free (4)
Mitchell Sherman
200-Yard IM (24)
100-Yard Back (12)
200-Yard Back (11)
Steve Shomberger
100-Yard Fly (20)
100-Yard Back (5)
200-Yard Back (9)
Sam Stoner
One-Meter Six Dives (4)
Three-Meter Six Dives (3)
Eric Swenson
200-Yard IM (34)
100-Yard Breast (7)
200-Yard Breast (12)
Jay Vanden Berg
500-Yard Free (2)
400-Yard IM (10)
1,650-Yard Free (1)
Chris Zeches
500-Yard Free (22)
200-Yard Free (35)
1,650-Yard Free (7)
–ND–