March 29, 2013
INDIANAPOLIS – The Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving squad completed their second day of action Friday at the 2013 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship at the IUPUI Natatorium. The Irish made program history on the second night, as the 800 freestyle relay became the first relay to place within the top 16 and garner honorable mention All-America scrolls. The early session was capped with swims by Frank Dyer (200 freestyle) and Chris Johnson (100 breaststroke) that placed them in the top-20.
In the evening session, the squad of Dyer, Kevin Hughes, John McGinley, and Bill Bass teamed up to turn in a 6:25.32 in the 800 freestyle relay, placing them 16th overall. The finish earned the squad the first relay All-America honor in school history. This is Dyer’s second career scroll, adding to the All-American honor he received in the 200 freestyle last year at the 2012 NCAA Championship in Federal Way, Wash. This is the first All-American award for Hughes, McGinley, and Bass.
“This has been quite a day. One of our long-term goals, as well as a specific goal for this season, was to score a relay in the NCAA Championship,” said head coach Tim Welsh. “We had been close with the 800 free relay in the past couple of years, and with the qualification changes this year, we were finally able to break through. It’s a great relay to score on; it’s a combination of speed and endurance and needs four guys to do it. In the rest of the meet, we are learning fast. We’ve had a couple of guys knocking on the door for making it back to finals. This is a new level for the program (qualifying relays and multiple swimmers) and it’s a new step. We are learning very quickly what’s required of us at this level, and we are going to get there as fast as we can.”
The morning began with a strong showing in the 200 medley relay, comprised of Bogac Ayhan, Cameron Miller, Bill Bass, and Dyer. Their time of 1:27.76 was good enough for 23rd, the second highest finish by an Irish relay to date.
John Williamson completed his second individual swim of the meet, improving upon his place from the first day and finishing 40th in the 100 butterfly (48.27). Dyer, an All-American in the 200 freestyle from the 2012 NCAA Championship in Federal Way, Wash., could not replicate his success from last year but still finished in the top 20, placing 18th in 1:34.77.
The Irish showed some impressive depth in the 100 breaststroke with three swimmers entered to swim. Johnson set the high-water mark for the team, placing 18th in 53.55, and was joined by teammates Zach Stephens (26th – 53.89) and Cameron Miller (29th – 53.96).
Tomorrow’s preliminary sessions will begin the last day of competition for the meet. The morning races will be streamed live at http://www.ihigh.com/indianasportscorp/, the finals will be broadcast live on ESPN3.com, and live results can always be found here at und.com. Prelims will start at 11am, and finals should begin at 7pm.
Finals Session | Event Summary
800 Free Relay: Frank Dyer led off with a team-best split of 1:34.89 … handed off the pool to Kevin Hughes, who went on to split 1:37.06 … John McGinley was next in the water, posting a readout of 1:37.32 … senior Bill Bass brought the relay home with a terrific anchor leg of 1:36.05 to record a final time of 6:25.32 … the team finished 16th overall, one hundredth of a second ahead of seventeenth place, and earned an honorable mention All-America scroll … it became the highest-placing relay in school history, and also marks the first time a relay has earned the All-American status … this is Dyer’s second career scroll, adding to the All-American honor he received in the 200 freestyle last year at the 2012 NCAA Championship in Federal Way, Wash. … this is the first All-American award for Hughes, McGinley, and Bass.
Preliminary Session | Event Summaries
200 Medley Relay: Freshman Bogac Ayhan led the squad off with a 22.78 split on the backstroke … Cameron Miller pushed forward with his split of 24.20 on the breast leg … Bill Bass (21.46) completed the fly portion for the Irish … Frank Dyer (19.32) brought the relay home to finish 23rd with a posting of 1:27.76 … following yesterday’s performances, stands as the second best relay finish ever for the Irish.
100 Fly: John Williamson, competing in his second individual event of the meet, started with a strong first half (22.37) and finished the race in 48.27 … Williamson finished 40th overall, his highest individual finish to date.
200 Free: Frank Dyer got off to a swift start, taking out the first half of the race in 45.91 … finished in 1:34.77, just behind his season-best time from BIG EAST (1:34.17) … placed 18th overall in the preliminary session, just outside of being invited back for finals.
100 Breast: Chris Johnson set the pace for the Notre Dame swimmers in the event, going out strong in the first fifty yards in 25.01 … came back to finish in 53.55, 18th overall, in his first individual NCAA Championship event … Zach Stephens finished just behind him, recording a readout of 53.89 to place 26th, his highest finish to date at the NCAA Championship … Cameron Miller, also competing in his second career event at the NCAA Championship, touched the wall in 53.96 to earn 29th place, a career best to this point.
THE IRISH AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP:
All-America Honors:
800 Free Relay – Dyer, Hughes, McGinley, Bass – 16th – Honorable Mention
Results by Athlete:
Frank Dyer
16th – 800 Free Relay
17th – 500 Free
18th – 200 Free
21st – 400 Medley Relay
23rd – 200 Medley Relay
Zach Stephens
26th – 100 Breast
28th – 200 Free Relay
41st – 200 IM
John Williamson
40th – 100 Fly
50th – 500 Free
Cameron Miller
23rd – 200 Medley Relay
29th – 100 Breast
58th – 200 IM
Chris Johnson
18th – 100 Breast
21st – 400 Medley Relay
Bill Bass
16th – 800 Free Relay
21st – 400 Medley Relay
23rd – 200 Medley Relay
28th – 200 Free Relay
Bogac Ayhan
21st – 400 Medley Relay
23rd – 200 Medley Relay
John McGinley
16th – 800 Free Relay
28th – 200 Free Relay
Kevin Hughes
16th – 800 Free Relay
28th – 200 Free Relay
The morning began with a strong showing in the 200 medley relay, comprised of Bogac Ayhan, Cameron Miller, Bill Bass, and Dyer. Their time of 1:27.76 was good enough for 23rd, the second highest finish by an Irish relay to date.
John Williamson completed his second individual swim of the meet, improving upon his place from the first day and finishing 40th in the 100 butterfly (48.27). Dyer, an All-American in the 200 freestyle from the 2012 NCAA Championship in Federal Way, Wash., could not replicate his success from last year but still finished in the top 20, placing 18th in 1:34.77.
The Irish showed some impressive depth in the 100 breaststroke with three swimmers entered to swim. Johnson set the high-water mark for the team, placing 18th in 53.55, and was joined by teammates Zach Stephens (26th – 53.89) and Cameron Miller (29th – 53.96).
Tonight’s finals session will include the 800 freestyle relay and Notre Dame will be competing in it. The races will all be broadcast live on ESPN3.com, and live results can be found here at und.com. The session will begin at 7pm.
Preliminary Session | Event Summaries
200 Medley Relay: Freshman Bogac Ayhan led the squad off with a 22.78 split on the backstroke … Cameron Miller pushed forward with his split of 24.20 on the breast leg … Bill Bass (21.46) completed the fly portion for the Irish … Frank Dyer (19.32) brought the relay home to finish 23rd with a posting of 1:27.76 … following yesterday’s performances, stands as the second best relay finish ever for the Irish.
100 Fly: John Williamson, competing in his second individual event of the meet, started with a strong first half (22.37) and finished the race in 48.27 … Williamson finished 40th overall, his highest individual finish to date.
200 Free: Frank Dyer got off to a swift start, taking out the first half of the race in 45.91 … finished in 1:34.77, just behind his season-best time from BIG EAST (1:34.17) … placed 18th overall in the preliminary session, just outside of being invited back for finals.
100 Breast: Chris Johnson set the pace for the Notre Dame swimmers in the event, going out strong in the first fifty yards in 25.01 … came back to finish in 53.55, 18th overall, in his first individual NCAA Championship event … Zach Stephens finished just behind him, recording a readout of 53.89 to place 26th, his highest finish to date at the NCAA Championship … Cameron Miller, also competing in his second career event at the NCAA Championship, touched the wall in 53.96 to earn 29th place, a career best to this point.
THE IRISH AT THE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP:
Results by Athlete:
Frank Dyer
17th – 500 Free
18th – 200 Free
21st – 400 Medley Relay
23rd – 200 Medley Relay
Zach Stephens
26th – 100 Breast
28th – 200 Free Relay
41st – 200 IM
John Williamson
40th – 100 Fly
50th – 500 Free
Cameron Miller
23rd – 200 Medley Relay
29th – 100 Breast
58th – 200 IM
Chris Johnson
18th – 100 Breast
21st – 400 Medley Relay
Bill Bass
21st – 400 Medley Relay
23rd – 200 Medley Relay
28th – 200 Free Relay
Bogac Ayhan
21st – 400 Medley Relay
23rd – 200 Medley Relay
John McGinley
28th – 200 Free Relay
Kevin Hughes
28th – 200 Free Relay
–ND–