Oct. 23, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team will travel to USC this weekend for the second meeting in as many seasons between the Irish and Trojans. The dual meet begins at noon (PT) at McDonald’s Swim Stadium, site of the swimming and diving portion of the 1984 Summer Olympics. It will be the first dual meet of the 2008-09 campaign for the Irish after the squad took first place at the Dennis Stark Relays earlier this month, and the first outdoor meet in several years for the program. Both the Irish and Trojans are receiving votes in the latest CollegeSwimming.com poll.
“What’s exciting about this meet for us is that we have the opportunity to race again after several weeks of tough training,” said Irish head coach Tim Welsh. “We put ourselves through that training for meets such as these. Last season’s matchup was very well contested and the races were much closer than the final score indicated. We’re looking forward to a great meet with superb racing and diving. Hopefully this series with USC will continue for a long time to come.”
USC won the first matchup of the series, 158-104, at the Rolfs Aquatic Center in 2007. In that early season battle between two top-25 programs, second-year swimmers won each of the five events in which Notre Dame claimed individual victories. Andrew Deters notched a pair of wins in the distance events, capturing first in the 500 Free (4:41.46) and 1,000 Free (9:36.41). The next closest finisher in the latter event was USC’s Kevin Little, who clocked in at 9:44.12. John Lytle and Ross Moore also earned top nods in their respective events. Lytle handled the competition in the 100 Free (45.50), and Moore left the 100 Fly field in his wake by posting a mark of 50.00. Lytle was also second in the 200 Free (1:39.49), and joined a trio of teammates for a second-place finish in the 400 Free Relay (3:08.56).
Notre Dame went 4-6 in dual meets last season before claiming the BIG EAST Championship title for the third time in four tries.
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