Jan. 16, 2015
MADISON, Wis. – The University of Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team struggled Friday night in the opening portion of their meet with Wisconsin and Indiana. The Badgers scored 136 points to the Irish’s 50. While not officially scoring against Indiana, the Hoosiers also outswam Notre Dame in the Friday evening events.
“we had some guys show a lot of effort,” Irish skipper Matt Tallman states, “but our combination of sick teammates, and tired swimmers played a major role in our results tonight. Tomorrow is a new day, and we hope to swim better.”
First up in the 200 medley relay, the Irish A-lineup came in third with their 1:31.25 showing. In the 1,000 free, distance freestylers John Nappi and James McEldrew came in sixth and eighth, touching the wall in 9:27.75 and 9:40.35 respectively. Joseph Petrone came in 10th (9:50.18), while Benjamin Jany finished 11th (9:50.70).
In the 200 free, four Irish swimmers put in admirable performances, with Reed Fujan claiming the top time in 1:40.20. In the 100 back, junior Bogac Ayhan had the top finish with his fourth place showing (50.74), while Robert Whitacre (52.01) and Thomas Anderson (55.67) came in eighth and ninth.
In breaststroke – traditionally an Irish stronghold backed by seniors Zach Stephens, Patrick Olson and Cameron Miller – head coach Matt Tallman saw these same three claim third, fourth and sixth place. Junior Andrew Jensen (59.12) came in 10th.
The Irish had three entrants in the 200 fly, where sophomore Kevin Bradley came in sixth (1:52.92) while seniors Broderick Kelley (1:54.76) and Matthew DeBlasio (1:58.59) finished eighth and 10th. With only two entrants in the 50 free, Justin Plaschka and Michael Hudspith touched the wall in seventh (21.22) and 10th (21.84).
In one of the last events of the evening, the 200 IM, Stephens finished seventh (1:54.77) while Fujan, one second off, claimed eighth place (1:54.78). Olson (1:56.35) and Anderson (2:04.22) were 10th and 12th. Closing out the swimming portion of the meet, the sole 800 free relay lineup of Fujan, Nappi, Jany and Bradley came in fourth (6:50.83).
In diving, Joe Coumos had the top showing in the 1-meter event, earning third place with 353.30. James Lichtenstein (297.85) and Ted Wagner (288.60) were the only other divers to compete for Notre Dame, finishing sixth and eighth in the standings.
The Irish return to action tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. CT, with results available on Meet Mobile.
Lizzie Mikes,
Media Services Coordinator
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