NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The No. 16/12 Irish Swim and Dive team will host Ball State, Indiana State and Michigan State for the final home meet of the season Saturday, Feb. 1.
Coming off a dual meet win over Northwestern, Notre Dame swept the home Shamrock Invitational, besting ranked teams 14/7 Ohio State and 18/RV Iowa, as well as Akron and Missouri State. Irish swimmers set eight records over the course of the two-day meet, including one program record (Coleen Gillilan, women’s 100 Fly).
This week, Gillilan and Erin Isola earned ACC Swimmer/Diver of the Week honors for their performances. It marked the ninth and 10th times an Irish performer has been tabbed for the award this season. Gillilan is one of two female swimmers in the ACC to receive the honors three times in 2019-20.
THE MEET DEETS
Opponents: Ball State, Indiana State, Michigan State
Date: Feb. 1, 2020
Time: Noon ET
Location: Rolf’s Aquatic Center, Notre Dame, Ind.
Live timing: und.com/swimmingstats and Meet Mobile
“The key for us this weekend will be about team depth,” Notre Dame head coach Mike Litzinger noted. “Since it’s against multiple teams, it will be an opportunity for a lot of our athletes to get some races in that they normally wouldn’t get to compete in.”
The meet will serve as the final home meet for Notre Dame this season, and ends a three-week home slate in which the Irish saw sustained and notable success.
“Our energy has been really outstanding,” the Irish head coach shared. “As individual as swimming and diving can be, we swam and dove like a team.
“It’s been really, really fun to see them come together.”
As championship season grows closer, Litzinger added that the training for the Irish is starting to pay dividends, and now the team focuses on getting in the right mindset to compete late into the season.
“At the end of the day, I think we’re seeing a lot of our training pay off, and that’s pretty exciting,” he shared. “When you see these kids work so hard, especially over the Christmas break and through the fall, you see them kind of reap the fruits of their labor.”
In the ACC, seven men’s teams and six women’s teams are currently ranked in the CSCAA’s Top 25 poll.
“For us to even compete at that level, we have got to be on our very, very best all the time,” Litzinger challenged. “So, that’s what all this is. It’s all rehearsal for the big moment.”
The meet will kick off at noon on Saturday. Follow along on Twitter with @NDSwimDive and with live timing at und.com/swimmingstats.