July 10, 2018
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame swimming and diving head coach Mike Litzinger will serve as the men’s assistant coach for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) during the first edition of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge this November, both conferences announced earlier this week. The inaugural ACC/Big Ten Challenge is scheduled for Nov. 10-11 at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, and will be hosted by Purdue.
Student-athletes from each conference will comprise both a men’s and women’s team through a selection process that will feature at least three males and three females from every member institution in the swimming competition, with a maximum of five student-athletes of each gender eligible from a particular team. Diving student-athletes will be selected at a maximum of three males and three females per institution.
Each student-athlete selected to compete will be able to enter a maximum of six events during the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, including individual events and relays. Meet scoring will mirror NCAA dual meet standards throughout the showcase meet, with men’s and women’s scores for each conference being combined to determine the overall winner.
“It is a great honor to be selected to the inaugural ACC/Big Ten Challenge coaching staff,” Litzinger said. “The ACC has become one of the premier swimming and diving conferences in the country. A meet like this versus a storied swimming and diving conference like the Big Ten will be exciting for our sport and for fans in general.”
Litzinger, who has served as a USA Swimming National Team coach during the 2017-18 competition season, will assist NC State’s Braden Holloway as a mentor for the ACC men’s all-stars during the challenge meet. NC State posted the best result of all ACC teams at the 2018 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships with a fourth-place finish, while Notre Dame checked in tied for 23rd place to establish a program benchmark at the national championship meet.
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