Feb. 21, 2017
By Sinhue Mendoza
NOTRE DAME, Indiana – The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving program continued its successful resurgent season with a seventh-place finish at the 2017 ACC Championships. The Irish registered 654.5 points — the most for Notre Dame’s women in the ACC Championships since 2014.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
- Junior Joe Coumos was the 2017 ACC Men’s 1 Meter Diving Champion. It was Notre Dame’s first-ever ACC diving championship.
- Freshman Erin Sheehan earned a bronze medal with a third-place finish in the 100 butterfly.
- Freshman Abbie Dolan continued her great rookie season at Notre Dame by breaking the 100 and 200 freestyle records. She swam the 100 freestyle in 48.70 and the 200 freestyle in 1:44.65.
- Every single swimmer on the Notre Dame women’s roster collected points for the Irish in the championship.
- Four of the five relay squads set Notre Dame records at the meet.
DIVING
The men’s diving squad made program history when junior Joe Coumos captured the 2017 ACC Men’s 1 Meter Diving Championship with a score of 420.00. It was Notre Dame’s first-ever ACC diving championship. He also earned fourth place in the men’s 3 meter dive. Coumos’ effort (398.20) in the 3 meter earned critical points that will carry over to the men’s ACC championships next week.
Senior James Lichtenstein finished ninth in platform diving with a score of 305.00 and narrowly missed out on the finals in the event.
#IRISHRELAYS
The Irish women set school records in the 200 medley relay, 800 free relay, 400 free relay and 200 free relay.
200 Medley Relay
In the first event of the championships, the Fighting Irish quartet of Catherine Mulquin, Meaghan O’Donnell, Nicole Smith and Katie Smith earned an NCAA A-Cut time with a school-record swim of 1:36.93. The previous record had stood since 2014. The record-setting effort made the team eligible for the 2017 NCAA Championships.
800 Freestyle Relay
The foursome of Abbie Dolan, Lauren Heller, Reilly Lanigan and Kyra Sarazen swam a school-record time of 7:06.88. The time earned them an NCAA B-Cut time and was good for fifth place in the ACC.
400 Freestyle Relay
The relay squad of of Abbie Dolan, Catherine Mulquin, Katie Smith and Sofia Revilak broke the Notre Dame 400 freestyle relay record when their time of 3:16.13 bested the record set just weeks earlier of 3:18.26. The time was an NCAA B-Cut time and was good enough for fifth place in the ACC.
200 Freestyle Relay
The Notre Dame foursome of Nicole Smith, Catherine Mulquin, Abbie Dolan and Sofia Revilak broke the school record for the event for the second time this season. Their time of 1:29.47 was good enough for an NCAA B-Cut and placed seventh in the conference.
400 Medley Relay
Catherine Mulquin, Meaghan O’Donnell, Nicole Smith and Abbie Dolan’s time of 3:34.07 earned them fifth-place ACC honors and was good for an NCAA B-Cut time.
Bronze Medal
Erin Sheehan’s time of 52.22 in the 100 butterfly gave the Irish their first medal of the championships. Sheehan now owns the Notre Dame record for the race. The previous record had been set by Kim Holden in 2013. Sheehan’s time also qualified for an NCAA B-Cut.
Phenomenal Freshman
Abbie Dolan continued her outstanding rookie season at the ACC Championships. Her leadoff split in the record-breaking 800 freestyle relay bested the previous school record in the 200 freestyle. Dolan touched the wall with a time of 1:44.65. The prior mark was set in 2008. Dolan added a second individual school record to her resume in the 100 freestyle with a time of 48.93. While she broke two individual records, the freshman was part of two of the record breaking relay teams as well.
Senior Sendoff
Senior Catherine Mulquin had a stellar effort in her last career ACC meet. Mulquin set a school record in the 100 backstroke for a second time in the season and bested the mark on two different occasions. She swam the race in 52.82 in the prelims and went faster in the B-final with a time of 52.69. The senior earned a pair of NCAA B-Cut times in the 100 freestyle. She was clocked at 49.56 in the morning prelim and then 49.29 in the finals. Mulquin also clocked a couple of B-Cut times in the 50 freestyle. Her prelim time of 22.40 and evening her swim of 22.35 were her best swims of the season.
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Strong Seventh
Meaghan O’Donnell’s time of 1:00.24 was not only good for seventh in the 100 breaststroke but also earned an NCAA B-Cut.
200 Yard Breaststroke
It was an exciting race for Notre Dame as it won both the B and C Finals. Meaghan O’Donnell came in ninth overall, but won the B-Final with an NCAA B-Cut time of 2:13.12. Sherri McIntee won the C-Final with a time of 2:13.77.
Fantastic Fifth
Alice Treuth earned fifth in the ACC in the 200 backstroke with an NCAA B-Cut time of 1:53.66 in the final heat.
400 IM
Katie Miller swam a pair of NCAA B-Cut times. She recorded a time of 4:18.36 in the prelims. Miller then bested that effort in the finals (4:15.67) by nearly three seconds. Both times were the senior’s best of the season.
200 IM
Nicole Smith’s time of 1:59.93 was her best of the campaign and was good enough for an NCAA B-Cut. She finished 16th. Teammate Erin Sheehan’s time of 2:00.88 in the prelims was also good for an NCAA B-Cut time. Katie Miller’s time of 2:01.29 was also good enough for an NCAA B-Cut.
Women’s 500 Freestyle
The Fighting Irish had a couple of swimmers in the finals and both put forth their best efforts of the season. Molly Treble placed 13th in the event with a time of 4:47.55. It was her best time of the season and good enough for the first NCAA B-Cut time for Notre Dame in the 500 freestyle in the 2016-17 season. Reilly Lanigan swam her best time of the season tapping the board in 4:48.72 in the morning prelims.
The One Miler
In the 1650 freestyle, Molly Treble swam her top time of the season tapping in at 16:30.68 and finished ninth in the long-distance event. Teammate Rebecca Walton also swam her best time coming in at 16:51.23.
UP NEXT
The Notre Dame men will open the 2017 ACC Championships on February 28 at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta.