March 7, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Freshmen Tim Kegelman and Ted Brown brought the Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving 2003-04 season to a close Sunday at the Boiler-Make-It Invitational in the Boilermaker Aquatic Center. Kegelman posted his third consecutive NCAA “B” time in the 100-yard butterfly, while Brown shaved more than three seconds off his season-best mark in the 400 individual medley.
The Boiler-Make-It Invitational was a last chance meet designed to allow swimmers to try to improve upon their best times in an attempt to earn berths in the NCAA Championships, to be held March 25-27 in the Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, N.Y.
Kegelman posted two times that rank among the 12 fastest in the history of the Irish program in the event. His morning mark of 48.56 is the third-best performance in school history, behind only his two swims at last month’s BIG EAST Championships. In the afternoon finals, he went 49.45, which would have tied the University record prior to last season, but now ranks as tied for the 11th-fastest time in school history. Kegelman’s top time this season was 48.43 in taking second in the finals of the BIG EAST Championships.
The University recordholder in the event, Kegelman entered the weekend tied for 44th in the College Quick 50, the list of best times in Division I this season, including fourth among freshmen. He had 10 of the top 15 times on the Irish this season in the 100 fly, all of which were below 50.00 seconds – a barrier that had been breached just five times prior to this season in the history of Notre Dame varsity competition.
The current Irish roster features the top three swimmers in the event in Notre Dame history – Kegelman, junior Frank Krakowski (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Preparatory School), and freshman Louis Cavadini (South Bend, Ind./Riley H.S.) — who have combined to post the 19 fastest 100 fly times in the varsity annals of the program.
The NCAA automatic qualifying time in the 100 fly is 47.25, which eight swimmers have achieved. A year ago, the final NCAA qualifier in the event had a time of 47.72. Historically, the cutoff for qualifiers in an individual event has been anywhere from the top 18 getting berths to the top 24 gaining entry. Heading into the final weekend, the 18th-best time in the country was 47.79 and 47.90 was tied for 24th.
Brown established himself as the fourth-fastest Irish swimmer ever in the 400 IM by turning in two of the top 17 times in school history Sunday. In the morning prelims, he went a season-best 3:56.95, which was the fourth-best time in 2003-04 for a Notre Dame competitor and the seventh-best in school history. His afternoon mark of 3:59.44 was the seventh sub-4:00.00 time by an Irish student-athlete this season and ranks 17th all-time.
Prior to Sunday, Brown’s best time in the 400 IM was a 4:00.10, which placed him fifth on the BIG EAST Top Times list — and second among Notre Dame swimmers — at the conclusion of the regular season. He elected not to swim the event in the conference meet last month, instead competing in the 500 free (3rd place, University record of 4:25.83), the 200 free (8th), and the 1650 free (10th).
The NCAA automatic qualifying time in the 400 IM is 3:47.29, which nine swimmers have achieved. A year ago, the final NCAA qualifier in the event had a time of 3:50.46. Historically, the cutoff for qualifiers in an individual event has been anywhere from the top 18 getting berths to the top 24 gaining entry. Heading into the final weekend, the 18th-best time in the country was 3:50.12 and 3:51.33 was 24th.