Feb. 24, 2017
By Sinhue Mendoza
NOTRE DAME, Indiana – The Notre Dame men’s swimming team opens the 2017 ACC Championships Monday at the McAuley Aquatic Center on the Georgia Tech campus. The men hope to build on an impressive performance by the women’s squad last week.
LAST TIME IN THE POOL
The Irish women continued their resurgent season with a seventh-place finish at the 2017 ACC Championships. Notre Dame registered 654.5 points — the most for the Irish women in the ACC Championships since 2014. The diving team earned Notre Dame’s first-ever ACC diving championship. Junior Joe Coumos won the 2017 ACC Men’s 1 Meter Diving Championship.
FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
- The Irish have recorded over 25 NCAA B-Cut times in the 2016-17 season.
- Notre Dame has been ranked in the top 25 of the TYR / College Swimming Coaches Association of America Division I poll throughout the entire 2016-17 season. The Irish are currently ranked No. 19 and ascended as high as No. 14 earlier this year.
- Notre Dame has earned an NCAA B-Cut time in every NCAA qualification event this season.
- After a strong start at the ACC Diving Championships, Notre Dame will open the championships with 89 points.
- Notre Dame finished seventh in the 2016 ACC Championships with 678 points.
2017 ACC CHAMPIONSHIP
After a renascent regular season, the men head into the championships with high expectations after finishing with over 10 wins, a 2-2 ACC record and a No. 19 ranking in the TYR / CSCAA Coaches Poll.
Specific information on how to follow the Irish next week.
ACC NETWORK EXTRA
A live video stream of event finals will be available on ACC Network Extra starting at 6 p.m. ET Tuesday. Three-time Olympic Gold medalist and a member of both the U.S. Swimming and International Swimming Hall of Fame, Rowdy Gaines, will provide the color commentary, while Sam Gore will provide play-by-play.
COACH LITZINGER’S THOUGHTS
On his team going into the ACC Championshipsââ’¬¦
“The staff and I are excited to see what our men can accomplish next week. We are off to a great start with diving, and now it’s up to the team to execute.”
On the keys to the tournament…
“Keys for our team will be relays and depth. The ACC has quickly become one of the premier conferences for swimming and diving in the country and if this week is anything like the women’s meet we should see some quality performances.”
On the team’s goals for the tournament…
“Our goals at meets like this one are very basic: compete, execute, and qualify for the next meet which is the NCAA Championships.”
FOLLOWING THE IRISH
In addition to the links above, Notre Dame fans can also follow live results of the week’s action on both team Twitter accounts, @NDWSwimDive and @NDMensswimdive, with a complete recap posted to und.com at the conclusion of the meet.