Jan. 25, 2013
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team capped off a very successful first day of the Shamrock Invitational by claiming the win in every event in front of an impressive crowd of 358 at Rolfs Aquatic Center. The Irish lead the Towson Tigers by a score of 152-33 after the first day of action.
This evening’s session was highlighted by two pool records. Kim Holden continued her strong season as she lowered the Rolfs Aquatic Center mark in the 200 backstroke, recording a NCAA B-cut time of 1:57.06. She broke former Indiana University and Olympian swimmer Kate Zubkova’s mark of 1:58.03 from Jan. 12, 2008.
In the last event of the night, the 400 freestyle relay squad of Emma Reaney, Kelly Ryan, Cat Galletti, and Suzanne Bessire broke the previous pool mark by nearly a half of a second with a time of 3:21.16. The old record of 3:21.65 was set on December 5, 1998 by the Michigan team of Eberwein, Crisman, Sugar and Shakespeare.
Gracie Fredlake shone on the first day of swimming, earning the distinction of being the only double individual event winner with her victories in the 1,650 freestyle (16:52.59) and the 400 individual medley (4:21.03). Bessire earned the honor of being the only three-time winner of the day, with wins in the 400 medley relay, 200 freestyle, and 400 freestyle relay.
Among the individual event-winners, Emma Reaney (100 butterfly – 54.45) and Lauren Stauder (100 breaststroke – 1:02.22) recorded NCAA B-cuts in their victories. Reaney now has NCAA A cuts in the 200 IM and the 100 and 200 breast and NCAA B cuts in the 400 IM and 100 fly.
Competition will resume tomorrow at 11 a.m. at the Rolfs Aquatic Center on the campus of Notre Dame.
EVENT-BY-EVENT RESULTS
400 Medley Relay: The quartet of Courtney Whyte, Lauren Stauder, Bridget Casey, and Bessire (3:45.34) cruised to victory in the distance medley relay … the squad of Lauren Scott, Sydney Golic, Melissa Scott, and Mikelle Masciantonio (3:51.13) earned silver with the Towson team of Sharer, Acker, Paskoff, and Barber (4:06.63) placing third … the Irish “A” team of Kelly Ryan, Emma Reaney, Kim Holden and Catherine Galletti broke the pool record by over six seconds but was disqualified for a false start.
1,650 Free: Fredlake (16:52.59) dueled with Jaime Malandra (16:53.08) for all of the 66 laps before emerging victorious in the longest individual event … Towson’s Stephanie Romano (17:04.29) touched the pads third in the race.
200 Back: Holden (1:57.06) blitzed the field to not only take first but also lower the Rolfs pool record by nearly a full second … Reaney (2:01.05) displayed some versatility en route to a second place showing … Sarah Dotzel (2:03.66) rounded out the top three for the Irish … Golic (2:03.75) placed fourth to complete the strong Irish showing in the event.
50 Free: Galletti (23.18) took home gold in the women’s splash-and-dash, closely pursued by teammates Ryan (23.60) and Christen McDonough (23.86) who completed yet another medal stand sweep for Notre Dame … Bessire (23.94) joined them under the 24-second mark to finish fourth.
100 Breast: Stauder (1:02.22) swam easily to victory, gathering her second overall gold of the meet and besting second-place finisher Alyssa Carle (1:07.61) of Towson … Golic (1:08.17) placed third to earn points for Notre Dame.
100 Fly: Reaney (54.45) earned her first individual gold of the meet for the Irish … Galletti (55.58) and Ryan (55.78) rounded out the top three, with Casey (58.79) just getting edged out for fourth place.
200 Free: Bessire (1:49.76) became the sixth individual Irish swimmer to earn first place on the night, besting teammates Malandra (1:53.09) and Whyte (1:53.12) by over three seconds … Holden (1:53.41) placed fourth for Notre Dame.
3-Meter Dive: Jenny Chiang (334.50) set the pace for the divers as she and teammate Lindsey Streepey (309.60) took the two top spots for Notre Dame … Lyndsey Dickson (301.90) earned third place for Towson while Notre Dame’s Kimmie Lisiak (280.65) placed fourth.
400 IM: Fredlake (4:21.03) became the meet’s first two-time individual event-winner … Casey (4:23.17) placed second and was followed by teammate Melissa Scott (4:31.81) who earned third place.
400 Free Relay: Yet another Rolfs pool record was lowered tonight, as the quartet of Reaney, Ryan, Galletti, and Bessire (3:21.16) bested the previous mark by nearly a half of a second … the “B” squad of Masciantonio, Holden, Dotzel, and Lauren Scott (3:28.71) finished second for Notre Dame.
NCAA B Cuts
Kim Holden – 200 Back
Lauren Stauder – 100 Breast
Emma Reaney – 100 Fly
Pool Records
Kim Holden – 200 Back
Emma Reaney – 400 Free Relay
Kelly Ryan – 400 Free Relay
Cat Galletti – 400 Free Relay
Suzanne Bessire – 400 Free Relay
Irish Wins
Suzanne Bessire – 200 Free/400 Medley Relay/400 Free Relay
Gracie Fredlake – 1,650 Free/400 IM
Lauren Stauder – 100 Breast/400 Medley Relay
Cat Galletti – 50 Free/400 Free Relay
Emma Reaney – 100 Fly/400 Free Relay
Kim Holden – 200 Back
Jenny Chiang – 3-Meter Dive
Courtney Whyte – 400 Medley Relay
Bridget Casey – 400 Medley Relay
Kelly Ryan – 400 Free Relay
–ND–