Oct. 15, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the second day in a row, Michigan was the top performer at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. The Wolverines were 3-0 on the day with wins over Notre Dame (174-119), TCU (178-115) and Oakland (190-97). The Irish sunk the Golden Grizzles and Horned Frogs by scores of 194-100 and 174-126, respectively.
Sophomore Frank Dyer led the way for the Irish with his pair of victories on the afternoon in the 100 and 200 free. Dyer also recorded the first NCAA B-cut of the season with his 1:37.92 showing in the 200 free.
“It is very good start for us and we are headed into a major week of training with some energy, excitement and spirit,” said head coach Tim Welsh.
Freshmen Nick Nemetz added another gold medal for the Irish off the 1-meter springboard with his total of 332.55 points, which was nearly 25 points ahead of the second place diver. Nemetz was just one of many freshmen to perform well on the weekend.
“I think that is the story,” said Welsh. “We have 16 freshmen, 12 on the swimming end and four on the diving end. So this was very much the beginning of things, not only for them but also for the next four years. It was exiting to see where they are. We swam a lot in 24 hours but I thought they go off to an exceptional start, perhaps no more exciting than Nick Nemetz winning the 1-meter springboard in his first collegiate meet. That is a phenomenal start at the diving end. Our freshmen are going to be a very strong part of the team and we saw that being to immerge this weekend.”
Michigan’s Connor Jaeger broke the second oldest swimming pool record at the Rolfs Aquatic Center on Saturday with his 9:10.63 performance in the 1,000 free. The previous record of 9:18.81 was set by Kane of Stanford in 1989.
Notre Dame will next return to the pool when they travel to BIG EAST foe Pittsburgh on October 28th.
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200 Medley Relay: The foursome of Petar Petrovic, Christopher Johnson, Frank Dyer and Kevin Overholt powered the Irish to a second-place finish in 1:31.47 … Jonathan Whitcomb and Kevin Rahill teamed with freshmen Cameron Miller and Patrick Olson to finish in eighth place (1:35.68).
1,000 Free: The freshmen duo of Jimmy McEldrew and Brennan Jacobsen finished in seventh and eighth place, respectively, after clocking in at 9:39.84 and 9:42.86 … Michigan’s Connor Jaeger broke the pool record as he touched the pad in 9:10.63.
200 Free: Frankie Dyer earned the Irish their first gold medal on the day with his 1:37.92 showing in the 200 free … that performance was good for the Irish’s first NCAA B-cut time.
100 Back: Petrovic led the Irish with a fifth-place showing in a time of 50.81.
100 Breast: Colin Babcock finished first for the Irish in third place in 57.34 … he was followed closely by Miller (57.63) and Johnson (57.70) who finished in fourth and fifth for Notre Dame, respectively.
200 Butterfly: Freshman John Williamson and junior Tylor Gauger clocked in at 1:54.41 and 1:54.47, respectively, which was good for fourth and fifth-place finishes.
50 Free: Overholt took the bronze for the Irish in the splash and dash with a 20.88.
1-meter Diving: Freshman Nick Nemetz took the field by storm and cruised to a gold place medal with a total of 332.55 points, which was nearly 25 points ahead of the second-place diver.
100 Free: Dyer collected his second gold medal behind a 44.57 performance … the time was nearly his second NCAA B-cut time of the day.
200 Backstroke: McEldrew clocked in at 1:53.30 for a seventh-place finish … he was the first Notre Dame swimmer to reach the wall.
200 Breaststroke: Miller picked up a bronze medal with his 2:05.69 performance … fellow freshmen Zach Stephens finished in fifth with a 2:07.15.
500 Free: Dyer was in a tight race for his third gold medal of the day up until the last 100 yards when Connor Jaeger of Michigan pulled away for the gold. Dyer did claim the silver with a 4:29.81.
100 Fly: Continuing the trend of freshmen making an impact for the Irish, Williamson and Jack Donovan finished in fourth and sixth place, respectively, for the Irish with 51.54 and 52.01 performances.
3-meter Diving: Freshman Michael Kreft finished in fourth to lead all Irish divers with a total of 299.55 points … Nemetz (fifth) and Koter (sixth) closely followed with scores of 292.85 and 271.80.
200 IM: Colin Babcock recorded his second top-three finish on the day with his bronze medal performance of 1:54.01.
400 Free Relay: The Irish tandem of Johnson, McGinley, John Nappi and Stephens touched the pad in 3:06.64 for the bronze medal.
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