Oct. 22, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame won 11 of 14 individual races to defeat BIG EAST Conference rival Pittsburgh, 184-116, Friday afternoon at Rolfs Aquatic Center to open the dual meet portion of the 2010-11 season. Bill Bass (200 free, 100 fly) and Michael Sullivan (500 free, 200 individual medley) led the way with two wins, while Eric Lex (1-meter) and Nathan Geary (3-meter) teamed to sweep the diving events. Notre Dame (1-0) has now won seven straight dual meets against the Panthers.
“Both our swimmers and divers stepped up to perform very well for the team today,” Irish head coach Tim Welsh said. “The upperclassmen showed great leadership in the pool, and the younger men were very exuberant in all aspects of this meet. The races were better than the score showed, which is very important to us. We were able to win some races today, and we’re ready to take the next step in our championship preparation by doing it again tomorrow.”
Notre Dame hits the water at 2:00 p.m. (ET) on Saturday (Oct. 23) for a meet at Oakland. Michigan will also join the Irish and Golden Grizzlies.
Pittsburgh won the first two races (200 medley relay and 1,000 free) before Bass punched in the first of his two victories. Christopher Johnson (100 breast), Tylor Gauger (200 fly), Joshua Nosal (100 free), Bertie Nel (200 back) and Joshua Choi (200 breast) also earned wins for the Irish.
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200 Medley Relay: Pittsburgh’s Adam Maczewski blazed out to the early lead with strong backstroke split (22.92) … Johnson posted the fastest breaststroke leg (25.92) but could not fully close the gap … Bass also posted the fastest butterfly split (22.51) yet Pitt’s A-team remained just out of reach … Frank Dyer brought the Irish home for a second-place finish (1:33.50).
1,000 Freestyle: Ryan Belecanech edged out to the early lead at the halfway mark, but Pitt’s Morne Boshoff surged ahead in the final 200 yards to win the freestyle distance discipline in 9:42.21 … Colin Babcock took second by posting a 9:45.58 … Belecanech rounded out the top three in 9:47.20.
200 Freestyle: Bass used a strong back half hundred-yard surge to edge out Sullivan … Bass touched the wall in 1:42.70 and Sullivan (1:42.84) was close behind … Pitt’s Jake Van Roekel took home the bronze in an effort of 1:43.18.
100 Backstroke: Pitt’s Maczewski pulled away from the field by using a dominating second fifty yards and touched the wall in 50.37, over one full second ahead of the nearest competitor … the visitor’s Robert Smith (51.55) edged out Nosal (51.57) to secure the 1-2 grab for Pitt.
100 Breaststroke: Johnson swam out to an early lead and did not look back, taking the gold in 57.51 … Rob Power (57.97) edged out Joseph Raycroft (58.00) for second … Mason Weber also scored for the Irish in 58.10.
200 Butterfly: Gauger (1:52.24) slid in front of Jordan Berry (1:52.66) to garner a 1-2 finish for the Irish … their efforts gave the Irish a 12-point lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the meet.
50 Freestyle: Andrzej Dubiel touched first in 20.83, as Dyer was second in 21.08.
3-meter Diving: Geary took first with 365.25 points … Wesley Villaflor rounded out the top three with a score of 339.67.
100 Freestyle: Nosal shelved his win in 46.19, with Dyer following at 46.29.
200 Backstroke: Nel led at the halfway mark and finished in a swift 1:51.55 … third-place honors went to Christopher Wills (1:53.28).
200 Breaststroke: Choi (2:04.55) earned his first collegiate win as Joseph Raycroft (2:05.89) was third and Johnson (2:08.25) tapped in for fourth.
500 Freestyle: Sullivan (4:41.26) breezed to the win as the Irish took four of the top five spots … Babcock (4:42.94) earned the silver.
100 Butterfly: Bass (50.90) cruised to his second win on the day, as Berry (51.94) and Colin Francesco (53.41) finished third and fourth, respectively.
1-meter Diving: The Irish swept the top three spots behind the efforts of Lex (335.40), Villaflor (322.87) and Geary (293.70).
200 Individual Medley: Sullivan (1:53.77) won by nearly two seconds … behind second-place Rob Power (1:55.55) of Pittsburgh was Raycroft (1:55.59), Babcock (1:56.02) and Gauger (1:57.19).
400 Freestyle Relay: Notre Dame’s A-team (Dyer, Bass, Nosal and Thomas Van Volkenburg) posted the best mark of the race, an exhibition time of 3:05.42.
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