Aug. 12, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team had several student-athletes compete in national events during the summer of 2005. Ten current or future Fighting Irish swimmers participated in meets in their respective countries. Rising senior Jamie Lutkus (Granger, Ind./Penn) qualified for the finals of the 200-meter individual medley at the ConocoPhillips U.S. Swimming National Championship (Aug. 3-7) and incoming freshman Samuel Pendergast (Melbourne, Australia) made it to the finals in three events at the Telstra Australian Short Course Championships (Aug. 7-11).
Lutkus, who will be a team captain for the 2005-06 season, competed in both the 200 and 400-meter individual medley at the national championships in Irvine, Calif. Lutkus competed as a member of the Irish Aquatics, a club team that is coached by Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving head coach Tim Welsh. In the 200 IM, Lutkus clocked a time of 2:07.71 in the preliminaries to become just the second Irish Aquatics swimmer to ever qualify for the evening finals at the championships. Notre Dame’s Ted Brown (Kokomo, Ind./Western) competed in the finals of the 400 IM at last year’s championships. Lutkus registered a time of 2:08.52 in the finals of the 200 IM and he swam a time of 4:33.68 in the prelims of the 400 IM.
Pendergast represented his club team, Nunawading, at the championships in Melbourne as he qualified for the finals in the 50-meter breaststroke, 100m breast and as part of his 4×100-meter medley relay team. In the 50m breast, he placed sixth in the final after posting a time of 28.82. He had respective heat and semi-final times of 28.92 and 29.05 in that event as well. The freshman-to-be clocked a time of 1:03.28 in the 100m breast semi-final and would go on to place eighth in the final with a time of 1:03.87. He would also help his 4×100 medley relay team to a third-place finish.
Brown competed for the second straight year at U.S. Nationals for the Irish Aquatics. The junior-to-be clocked times of 1:55.36 in the 200-meter freestyle preliminaries, 4:03.84 in the 400m free prelims and 4:39.04 in the 400m IM prelims. Brown was also a member of the Irish Aquatics 400-meter freestyle relay team that swam in the evening finals and placed 19th. Joining him on that relay squad were three of his fellow Notre Dame teammates in rising juniors Louis Cavadini (South Bend, Ind./Riley) and Alan Carter (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) along with freshman-to-be Daniel Lutkus (Granger, Ind./Penn), Jamie’s younger brother. The Irish Aquatics 800-meter freestyle relay team also placed 19th. That team included Notre Dame junior-to-be Brian Freeman (Sanger, Calif./Immanuel) along with Brown, Daniel Lutkus and Carter.
Senior-to-be Steve Shomberger (Spotsylvania, Va./Courtland) swam for the Irish Aquatics in the 200-meter backstroke and posted a time of 2:09.47 in the preliminaries. The Irish Aquatics are not affiliated with Notre Dame, though it rents the Rolfs Aquatic Center on the University’s campus as its practice facility and is coached by Welsh, who is entering his 21st season at the helm of the Notre Dame program.
Eric Swenson (Scotch Plains, N.J./St. Joseph), who will be a sophomore for the Fighting Irish this coming season, competed for his club team, the Jersey Gators, as he clocked a time of 1:05.32 in the 100-meter breast preliminaries. Freshman-to-be and Nevada-native Jace Hopper (Las Vegas, Nev./The Meadows) swam for the Desert Storm Swim Club in California at nationals and registered a time of 8:22.41 in the 800-meter free.
For more information on the 2005 ConocoPhillips Swimming National Championships, including full results, please log on to www.saloswimcamp.com/nationals2005/default.asp. To find more information on the 2005 Telstra Australian Short Course Championships, log on to www.swimming.org.au/.
-ND–