Feb. 27, 2017
By Sinhue Mendoza
ATLANTA — The No. 19 Notre Dame swimming team got off to a great start in the 2017 ACC Men’s Swimming Championships. The Fighting Irish registered top-five finishes in two relays and earned their first medal of the week. Notre Dame sits in fourth place with 138 points after the opening day of action.
STANDOUT SWIMS
Bronze #IrishRelays
The Irish got off to a hot start in the championship with a school record and NCAA A-Cut standard time of 1:24.88 in the 200 medley relay. The mark earned a bronze medal. The quartet of Robby Whitacre, Trent Jackson, Justin Plaschka and Daniel Speers bested the previous school record of 1:25.46 set in 2014.
More #IrishRelay Records
Notre Dame’s relays squads weren’t done with their historic day at the pool. The Irish foursome of Reed Fujan, Afrik Tabahn, Benjamin Jany and Aaron Schultz finished fourth in the 800 freestyle relay with a time of 6:19.91. The swim was a school record and NCAA A-Cut standard time. The previous school record of 6:21.51 was registered in 2015.
COACH LITZINGER’S THOUGHTS
On today’s strong day at the Olympic pool in Atlanta…
” I’m very proud of our guys. Two more school records, two more NCAA A-cuts and a third-place finish in the 200 medley. We’re swimming as a team and really competing. We talked about `team swimming’ all season and building momentum off each other’s performances, and that’s exactly what we did tonight.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s races…
“Tomorrow is another day and we need to be prepared to get the job done in the morning prelims. The way we swim in those races will determine a lot.”
UP NEXT
Notre Dame continues action in the 2017 ACC Men’s Championships Tuesday. Morning prelims get started at 10 a.m. ET and the evening finals get underway at 6 p.m. ET. Fans can follow the Irish throughout the championships via the Live Link. The ACC Network Extra will cover the championships from Tuesday-Thursday.
Tuesday, February 28
ACCN Extra (6-8:30 p.m.): http://es.pn/2lMJDdJ
Wednesday, March 1
ACCN Extra (6-8:30 p.m.): http://es.pn/2mq8ikx
Thursday, March 2
ACCN Extra (6-8:30 p.m.): http://es.pn/2lKTa3Y
Live results will also be available on the team’s Twitter account, @NDMensswimdive, with a complete recap posted to UND.com at the conclusion of the meet.