Dec. 3, 2003
THIS WEEK: The Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team plays host to the three-day Notre Dame Invitational Thursday-Saturday, Dec. 4-6, at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. Preliminary heats begin at 10 a.m., while the finals are set each night at 6:30 p.m. The diving trials take place at 1:00 p.m. daily. Admission is free and Saturday night is a gold game with the first 100 fans receiving a Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving t-shirt.
THE NOTRE DAME INVITATIONAL: The Notre Dame Invitational is one of the biggest meets of the year in terms of the number of competitors. In the men’s competition, 11 teams will compete. Teams swimming include Denison, Denver, Harvard, Indianapolis, Louisville, North Dakota, Notre Dame, Saint Louis, Shippensburg, West Virginia and Wisconsin-Milwaukee (divers only).
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS FOR THE NOTRE DAME INVITATIONAL: The following is the schedule for this weekend’s Notre Dame Invitational. It will follow the same format as the NCAA Championships. The women’s heats are first, followed by the men.
Thursday, Dec. 4
1. 200 freestyle relay
2. 500 freestyle
3. 200 individual medley
4. 50 freestyle
5. 400 medley relay
6. Men’s 1-meter diving
7. Women’s 3-meter diving
Friday, Dec. 5
8. 200 medley relay
9. 400 individual medley
10. 100 butterfly
11. 200 freestyle
12. 100 breaststroke
13. 100 backstroke
14. 800 freestyle relay
15. Men’s 3-meter diving
Saturday Dec. 6
16. 1,650 freestyle
17. 200 backstroke
18. 100 freestyle
19. 200 breaststroke
20. 200 butterfly
21. 400 freestyle relay
22. Women’s 1-meter diving
ABOUT THE IRISH: The Irish are having a tremendous fall season even though their record might not be indicative of that. Notre Dame already has 15 qualifiers for the BIG EAST Championships and has had a number of swimmers enter the Irish top-10 fastest-times list. In order to gain entrance to the conference meet, one must achieve an “A” qualifying time in at least one event. Once in the field, a student-athlete may participate in up to two additional events in which he has achieved a “B” qualifying time. Seven other Irish swimmers have posted “B” times, but not “A” marks.
A pair of freshmen, Ted Brown and Tim Kegelman, are leading the way, having each already posted “A” qualifying marks in three different events. Brown has posted team-best times in gaining automatic entrance to the BIG EAST Championships in the 200 (1:41.56), 500 (4:37.00), and 1,650 freestyle (15:57.97). His times already have positioned him as the ninth-fastest Irish swimmer ever in the 200 and the 11th-quickest in the mile. Brown also posted the second-fastest time in school history in the 1,000 against Louisville, BYU and Iowa two weeks ago with a time of 9:28.64. Brown also has “B” qualifying times in the 200 butterfly and 200 individual medley.
Kegelman also holds the top times on the team in three races: the 100 and 200 butterfly (1:52.11) and the 200 individual medley (1:54.42). In his first time swimming the race in college, he posted a 49.89 in the 100 fly, immediately establishing himself as the second-fastest Irish swimmer in history in the event. He also swam the fifth-fastest time during the quad meet against Louisville, BYU and Iowa with a time of 49.91. His 200-fly time makes him the ninth-fastest in Notre Dame history.
Senior co-captain Matt Obringer turned in an “A” time of 1:41.04 in the quad meet to qualify for the BIG EAST meet. He also has “B” times in the 100 and 500 freestyle events.
Junior David Moisan and sophomore Steve Shomberger each have put up “A” times in two events. Moisan is the team leader in the 200 breaststroke (2:08.47) and also has qualified in the 200 IM (1:55.04). Shomberger has “A” marks in the 100 (52.54) and 200 backstroke (1:52.59).
Junior Frank Krakowski has an “A” time in the 100 butterfly (51.22), an event in which he holds the University record, while having also turned in “B” times in the 50 and 100 freestyle.
Three sophomores have one “A” time and one “B” time. Doug Bauman has qualified in the 100 backstroke (52.54) and has a “B” in the 200. Patrick Davis is in the league meet in the 1,650 freestyle (15:58.44) and has a “B” in the 500. Tyler Grenda qualified in the 200 breaststroke (2:08.70) and has a “B” time in the 100 (59.82).
Sophomores Tim Randolph and Patrick Heffernan have “A” times in the 100 breaststroke (58.75) and the 200 butterfly (1:53.93), respectively. Freshmen Brian Freeman and Scott Coyle also have clinched spots in the BIG EAST meet, in the 200 backstroke (1:52.86) and one-meter diving (276.67), respectively.
Two more freshmen qualified for the BIG EAST meet against Louisville, BYU and Iowa as Justin Barber and Alan Carter are heading to New York in February. Barber qualified in the 400 individual medley with a time of 4:07.70, while Carter registered qualifying times in the 100 and 200 backstroke at 51.91 and 1:54.69, respectively.
In all Notre Dame has 15 of 29 guys qualified for the BIG EAST meet while seven more have recorded “B” times this season.
CHALLENGING SLATE: Notre Dame will face a total of six teams this season that are currently ranked or receiving votes in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America’s national top 25. Leading the way is defending BIG EAST champion Pittsburgh (Jan. 16-17, away) at 18th, with BYU (L, 116-178) at 19th, Northwestern (Jan. 24, away) 20th, and North Carolina (L, 111.5-181.5) tied for 21st. Harvard (Dec. 4-6 in Notre Dame Invitational) is the first team receiving votes, while Iowa (119-174) is third in that group.
YOUTHFUL AIRS: This year’s Irish team has a definite youthful side to it. Of the 29 student-athletes, only eight have more than one previous season of collegiate experience. There are just four members of the class of 2003 and also just four juniors, while 10 sophomores and 11 freshmen fill out the roster.
THE CAPTAINS: Notre Dame has two captains this season in seniors Matt Obringer and Josh Dermott. Obringer is a three-year monogram winner from Jacksonville, Fla., while Dermott, from El Dorado Hills, Calif., is also a three-time letterwinner. Dermott ranks fourth all-time in the 100 breaststroke and 200 individual medley and boasts the highest grade-point average on the team at 3.745, while Obringer ranks in the top four all-time in the 100, 200 and 500 freestyle events.
UP NEXT: Notre Dame will take the next three weeks off for finals and will not return to the pool until Jan. 9 when the team concludes a winter training trip at the Holiday Competition in Mission Viejo, Calif. The time of the meet is to be determined.