Nov. 8, 2008
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team dropped to 1-2 in dual meets on the season after a 187-108 loss to No. 16 Purdue at the Rolfs Aquatic Center on Saturday. Stealing the spotlight was 2008 Olympian David Boudia who racked a pair of diving victories for Purdue. Boudia set a pair of Rolfs Aquatic Center records with scores of 440.48 and 373.05 in the 3- and 1-meter events, respectively.
“When you look at this matchup, what made the results so one-sided was that Purdue was able to beat us where we’re strong,” Irish head coach Tim Welsh said. “The diving, middle distance and distance freestyle events are our strengths and they were better than us today.
“Congratulations to Purdue. They’ve been on the road for two days and swam great yesterday (at Northwestern) and again today. They’re a very good team and they earned it. Our improvements are hard to see from the stands, but during this serious training phase we’re going through we’re seeing signs that our best swims still lie ahead.”
Notre Dame earned first-place points in the 200 Back and 400 Individual Medley, both of which came from the efforts of Michael Sullivan.
The Irish return to action Nov. 15 in a tri-meet at Cleveland State with the Vikings and Miami (Ohio).
400 Medley Relay: Purdue gained clear leads for first and second place going into the breaststroke … during the fly leg, MacKenzie LeBlanc gained ground on second place coming into the wall about one-yard short of his opponent … Purdue held its lead throughout the freestyle and the Boilermaker’s took first, second and fourth … the third-place Irish relay touched in at 3:28.17.
1,650 Free: The race opened with a tight pack of five swimmers … Purdue’s Matt Stewart and Drew Wolfred got out to a five-yard lead … at the 1000-yard mark, Stewart and Wolfred expanded their lead while Notre Dame’s Andrew Deters pulled away from his teammates in the chase for second … in the final 200 yards, Stewart broke out into a clear lead while Wolfred continued to hold his position over Deters … Stewart (15:51.65) and Wolfred (15:57.44) finished 1-2 with Deters taking third in 16:01.65.
200 Free: John Lytle and Purdue’s John Schmitt were locked for first and second with even turnovers through the first 100 … during the third lap, Schmitt surged ahead to gain a distinguished lead over the field … Lytle started to regain ground on his opponent during the final lap, but ran out of time … Schmitt finished in 1:39.80 with Lytle following behind in 1:40.18.
100 Back: Purdue took the first two spots and Jeff Wood (52.61) was third for the Irish … Bill Bauman scored points with a time of 53.74.
100 Breast: Purdue claimed gold and silver while Daniel Rave secured third in 1:00.12.
200 Fly: LeBlanc hung tough for the first half of the race but faded after the midway point … he finished third in 1:51.32 … Patrick Augustyn (1:56.66) was one spot behind, followed by Christopher Wills (1:58.56).
50 Free: Notre Dame placed swimmers in three of the top five positions for points … Andrew Hoffman (21.62) was second … Marshall Sherman (21.76) was fourth in front of Thomas Van Volkenburg (21.81).
1-meter Diving: Boudia (373.05) broke Michael Bulfin’s pool record … Bulfin put up a fight, finishing second with a score of 353.10 … Eric Lex was fifth with 311.99 points.
100 Free: Lytle was just behind John Schmitt (45.88) after the half … Lytle finished second in 45.85 with Hoffman taking fifth in 47.11.
200 Back: Sullivan came through in 1:52.79 for first … Wills (1:54.40) was third and Wood (1:55.41) placed fourth.
200 Breast: Exiting his pullout off the second wall, Purdue’s Aaron Koger claimed a two-yard lead over Rave … Koger continued to control the field throughout the race and touched into the wall with a time of 2:02.64 … Purdue’s Bill Arzner and Scott Dean cut away at Rave’s second-place holding in the final lap … Rave managed to maintain his position and take second place for Notre Dame with a time of 2:07.70.
500 Free: LeBlanc had a slight advantage for second moving into the final 100 … Joshua Nosal showed a burst of speed and moved into third … Nosal locked in a time of 4:43.89 for third with LeBlanc (4:44.37) taking fifth.
100 Fly: Augustyn competed for fourth and held strong until the end … he finished fifth in 52.12 … John D’Oliver placed sixth in 52.82.
3-meter Diving: With a pool-record 440.48 points, Boudia earned his second win for the Boilermakers … Bulfin (366.60) was second … Nathan Geary (322.12) and Lex (318.97) secured points for the Irish.
400 Individual Medley: Deters, Sullivan and LeBlanc completed the butterfly in front of the rest of the field, clogging the first three positions … Sullivan (4:07.18) earned first-place points in front of Deters (4:07.68) and LeBlanc (4:15.46).
400 Free Relay: Each of Notre Dame’s top two squads earned points … Lyle, Nosal, Van Volkenburg and Hoffman were first in 3:08.39 … Sherman, Danny Lutkus, Bauman and Patrick Lloyd (3:12.25) were second.
–ND–