Aug. 10, 1999
SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team has been honored as the top ranked All-Academic Swimming and Diving Team for the 1999 spring semester by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA). The Irish men finished the spring with a combined grade point average of 3.352.
Senior Ray Fitzpatrick (Doylestown, Pa.), holder of several Notre Dame freestyle records, garnered CSCAA Honorable Mention All-Academic standing after posting a 3.638 grade point average during the 1999 spring semester. Fitzpatrick is a mathematics major in the College of Science.
Notre Dame was one of 269 teams that achieved CSCAA All-Academic Swimming and Diving team status. In order to qualify for the team award, the entire swimming and diving squad, including all team members on the eligibility list, must average at least a 2.80 on a 4.0 scale.
Rounding out the top five teams were Dartmouth College, University of Evansville, Georgetown University and Brown University.
To qualify as a CSCAA All-Academic team member, the student must qualify to participate in the NCAA, NAIA or JC Swimming and Diving National Championships, have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.5 (on a 4.0 scale) and complete the equivalent of 24 semester hours at the institution they represented during the year. Honorable Mention All-Academic team members must have achieved a provisional NCAA qualifying standard and also have a 3.5 GPA.
Fitzpatrick set his NCAA provisional qualifying time while breaking his own school record with a time of 1:39.12 earning a second-place finish in the 200 freestyle at the BIG EAST swimming championships. He also set school records in the 50 freestyle (20.73) and 100 freestyle (45.07). Fitzpatrick was also a member of the school-record breaking 200 freestyle relay team (1:23.09) and 400 medley relay team (3:20.50). In 1998, he became the first Notre Dame men’s swimmer to ever reach an NCAA provisional qualifying mark, with a 1:39.20 in the 100 freestyle.
Top 10 1999 Spring Semester Teams
1. Notre Dame 3.352 2. Dartmouth College 3.330 3. University of Evansville 3.330 4. Georgetown University 3.286 5. Brown University 3.270 6. Butler University 3.240 7. Ohio University 3.229 8. Boston College 3.205 9. University of Denver 3.20010. Harvard University 3.160