Feb. 28, 2017
By Sinhue Mendoza
ACC Recap
ATLANTA — The No. 19 Notre Dame men’s swimming team continued its hot start to the 2017 ACC Championships at the Olympic pool in Atlanta on Tuesday. The Irish picked up two more medals and broke a pair of school records.
With two more days of competition remaining in the ACC Championships, Notre Dame sits in fourth place with 365.5 points. NC State leads with 471 points, followed by Louisville (402.5) and Virginia Tech (384). Florida State (337) rounds out the top five.
STANDOUT SWIMS
Silver Medalist
Junior Justin Plaschka netted Notre Dame’s first silver medal of the 2017 ACC Championships. He swam 19.38 and edged Chad Mylin of Florida State (19.39) for second place. Plaschka’s time bested the school record that teammate Daniel Speers (19.45) had broken earlier in the morning prelims. Speers finished sixth in the finals with a time of 19.43.
Bronze Medalists
The 200 freestyle relay team of Plaschka, Speers, sophomore Tabahn Afrik and senior Reed Fujan earned bronze medals with their school record and NCAA A-cut time of 1:17.37. The bronze medal was the second for a Notre Dame relay squad at the championships.
B-Cuts Bunch
Every Notre Dame swimmer earned NCAA-B-cut times in the 200 IM. Junior Robby Whitacre and senior Kevin Bradley represented the Irish in the B heat finals. Whitacre took sixth with a time of 1:45.05 and Bradley came in eighth with a time of 1:45. 31.
The 500
The Irish had a strong showing in the 500 freestyle. Three of Notre Dame’s four swimmers earned NCAA B-cut times and junior Richard Mannix, senior Trent Jackson and junior Benjamin Jany each punched tickets to the B-Finals. Mannix’s time of 4:19.24 was good for first place in the B final, while Jackson came third (4:20.04) and Jany finished ninth (4:24.95).
COACH LITZINGER’S THOUGHTS
On today’s successful day…
“We had a great evening. Two school records and two podium placings. Our guys had 14 swims today and had 11 lifetime bests. We are ready to hit the ground running tomorrow.
To his medalists…
“Special congratulations to Justin Plaschka for his effort in the 50 freestyle and our 200 free relay team for stepping up and breaking our Notre Dame record by a second to get a bronze.”
DAY 2 NOTES
- Senior Tommy Anderson registered an NCAA B-Cut time of 1:48.00 in the 200 IM.
- Freshman Joe Turk’s time of 1:48.22 in the 200 IM was good for an NCAA B-cut.
- Freshman Aaron Schultz tapped the board in the 200 IM with an NCAA B-Cut time of 1:47.08.
UP NEXT
The Irish men continue competition at the 2017 ACC Men’s Championships Wednesday morning. Swimming resumes at 10 a.m. with prelims for the 400 individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke. The finals for those events, in addition to the 400 medley relay, will begin at 6 p.m.
Notre Dame fans can follow the Irish on theLive Link or view via the ACC Network Extra.
Wednesday, March 1
ACCN Extra (6-8:30 p.m.)
Thursday, March 2
ACCN Extra (6-8:30 p.m.)
Live results are available on the team’s Twitter account, @NDMensswimdive, with a complete recap posted to UND.com at the conclusion of the day.