Feb. 16, 2017
By Sinhue Mendoza
ATLANTA – The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving program placed seventh at the 2017 ACC Championships. The Irish finished with 654.5 points — the most for Notre Dame in the ACC Championships since 2014.
The Irish women set school records in the 400 free relay, 200 free relay, 200 medley relay, 800 free relay. Notre Dame also recorded four individual school records in the 100 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle and 100 butterfly.
The diving squad made program history when junior Joe Coumos’ score of 420.00 earned him the 2017 ACC Men’s 1 Meter Diving Championship. It was Notre Dame’s first-ever ACC diving championship.
STANDOUT SWIMS
#IrishRelays
The Irish quartet of Abbie Dolan, Catherine Mulquin, Katie Smith and Sofia Revilak broke yet another Notre Dame relay record when their time of 3:16.13 bested the previous mark set just a couple weeks ago (3:18.26). The time was good enough for an NCAA B-cut and fifth place in the event.
Phenomenal First Year
Building on an already great championship, Abbie Dolan added a second individual school record to her resume. She swam 48.93 in the 100 freestyle morning prelims. Dolan ended the day with a time of 49.04 in the finals and finished 16th.
Fantastic Fifth
Alice Treuth earned fifth in the ACC in the 200 backstroke with an NCAA B-Cut time of 1:53.66. Treuth’s time was an improvement from her morning prelim time of 1:53.86.
The One Miler
Molly Treble swam her best race of the season in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 16:30.68, good for ninth place. Rebecca Walton also swam her best race of the year with a time of 16:51.23.
Senior Sendoff
Catherine Mulquin 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’s second swim of the day proved to be the best time of the season for the Irish senior.
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 2:11.80. Sherri McIntee won the C-Final with a B-Cut time of 2:12.97.
DIVING
Senior James Lichtenstein put forth a solid effort in the platform with a score of 305.00 and narrowly missed out on the finals. He finished ninth but still provided key points for the men’s squad that will compete in the ACC championships later in the month.
COACH LITZINGER’S THOUGHTS
On his feelings after a successful ACC tournamentââ’¬¦
“It’s exactly what we’ve been hoping all year long. Practicing and planning for a high level, prelims-final championship and the team responded exactly how we practiced.”
His thoughts on his team’s effort ââ’¬¦
“I am pretty emotional about it. They backed each other up. Our theme all year was fight for those besides you and tonight was a great example of them living that.
On what is next for the teamââ’¬¦
“The next step is to see how the NCAA qualifying pans out. We have four girls who are definitely going to be in the meet. We have a couple kids on the bubble so we will have to wait a week to see how that goes and make some decisions on some relays but we’re going to have a nice healthy group at the NCAA championships. It’s going to be a lot of fun to represent Notre Dame at the fastest women’s meet in the world.”
On the upcoming men’s championships ââ’¬¦
“The good news is I get to do this all over again in a week with the guys and if they take their cues from the women, which they usually do, they’re going to be in good shape and it’s going to be a lot of fun.
FINAL DAY NOTES
- Lauren Heller registered her best time of the season in the 100 freestyle coming in at 49.89. It was good for an NCAA B-Cut.
- Katie Smith’s B-Cut time of 49.60 in the 100 freestyle was her best effort this season.
- Katie Miller earned a spot in the B-Finals with her prelim time of 1:56.79. Her finals time was 1:57.64. Both times in the event were good for NCAA B-Cuts.
- Kyra Sarazen improved her morning prelim time of 1:57.59in the event final (1:57.07).
UP NEXT
The Notre Dame men will open the 2017 ACC Championships on February 28 at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta.