Feb. 27, 2014
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The University of Notre Dame men’s swimming team resumed its assault on the program record book Thursday at the Atlantic Coast Conference Championship at the Greensboro Aquatic Center. The Irish finished the evening with three additional team records, pushing their championship total to five, and with the inclusion of last week’s 1-meter diving scores currently sit in fifth place overall with 325 points.
Two-time All-American Frank Dyer immediately chased the program’s top 50 freestyle mark during the preliminary round of the distance in the morning session, tapping the wall in 19.59 seconds to break his own team record. A finals swim of 19.62 by Dyer (seventh place) tied the former mark, and both times met 2013 NCAA Championship Invitational standards.
Dyer was not done with his record efforts for the day, swimming the lead leg of the 200 freestyle to open the Thursday finals portion. The Loudonville, N.Y. native, blazed his leadoff 50 in 19.57, re-breaking the fastest time in team history. Dyer, All-American Zach Stephens, Matthew Buerger and Kevin Bradley also set the new Notre Dame 200 freestyle relay top time (1:18.72), earning an NCAA B-cut in the process.
After nearly equaling his own program record swim during the preliminary round of the 200 IM, Stephens made Irish history by becoming the first Notre Dame swimmer to reach the podium at the ACC Championship. Stephens clocked in with a finals time of 1:44.01 for runner-up honors, taking all-ACC accolades in the process. Senior co-captain Colin Babcock added a pair of NCAA B-cut swims in the event, taking seventh place overall with a final heat of 1:45.68.
All-American John Williamson posted the top Notre Dame time in the 500 freestyle, logging an NCAA B-cut with a finals time of 4:23.22 to finish in 11th place. Kevin Hughes (4:23.26) and Tom Anderson (4:24.06) were the next to the wall, claiming 12th and 13th place, respectively.
The 2014 ACC Championship is scheduled to resume Friday, with the preliminary heats for the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke set to begin at 11 a.m. All championship information, including a full event schedule and live results, can be found at the official championship website, http://theacc.co/SwimDiveChamps. Fans can also get updates by following along on Twitter, @NDSwimming and @ACCSwimDive.
2014 ACC Men’s Swimming Championship – Scores After Day Two
North Carolina State -415 points
Virginia Tech – 411 points
Virginia – 338 points
North Carolina – 337.5 points
Notre Dame – 325 points
Florida State – 282 points
Georgia Tech – 201 points
Duke – 193.5 points
Pittsburgh – 178 points
Boston College – 123 points
Miami (Fla.) – 74 points
Notre Dame Program Records
200 Medley Relay – Bogac Ayhan, Cameron Miller, Frank Dyer, Zach Stephens – 1:25.46.
800 Freestyle Relay – Colin Babcock, Frank Dyer, Kevin Hughes, Tom Anderson – 6:21.74.
200 Freestyle Relay – Frank Dyer, Zach Stephens, Matthew Buerger, Kevin Bradley – 1:18.72.
50 Freestyle – Frank Dyer (Leadoff Split) – 19.57.
200 IM – Zach Stephens – 1:44.01.
Notre Dame NCAA `A’ Time Standards
200 Medley Relay – Bogac Ayhan, Cameron Miller, Frank Dyer, Zach Stephens – 1:25.46.
800 Freestyle Relay – Colin Babcock, Frank Dyer, Kevin Hughes, Tom Anderson – 6:21.74.
Notre Dame NCAA `B’ And Invitational Time Standards
200 Freestyle Relay – Frank Dyer, Zach Stephens, Matthew Buerger, Kevin Bradley – 1:18.72.
50 Freestyle – Frank Dyer (Leadoff Split) – 19.57.
50 Freestyle – Frank Dyer (Prelim) – 19.59.
50 Freestyle – Frank Dyer (Final) – 19.62.
500 Freestyle – John Williamson (Final) – 4:23.22.
500 Freestyle – Kevin Hughes (Final) – 4:23.26.
500 Freestyle – Tom Anderson (Final) – 4:24.06.
500 Freestyle – Kevin Hughes (Prelim) – 4:24.88.
500 Freestyle – Tom Anderson (Prelim) – 4:24.91.
200 IM – Zach Stephens (Final) – 1:44.01.
200 IM – Zach Stephens (Prelim) – 1:44.55.
200 IM – Colin Babcock (Prelim) – 1:45.12.
200 IM – Colin Babcock (Final) – 1:45.68.
200 IM – Matthew Buerger (Prelim) – 1:47.19.
200 IM – Patrick Olson (Prelim) – 1:48.24.
200 IM – Cameron Miller (Prelim) – 1:48.34.
200 IM – Bertie Nel (Prelim) – 1:48.48.
Notre Dame All-Conference Accolades
Zach Stephens – 200 IM (Second Team)
–ND–