SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Notre Dame will close out its 2022-23 home slate this weekend as the Irish host Ohio State, Akron and Indiana State for the annual Tim Welsh Classic. The Irish have already seen the Buckeyes this year, as the men took fourth and the women took sixth in the November Ohio State Invitational. The host teams won both meets.
The Notre Dame men’s team — one which most recently checked in tied for No. 22 in the CSCAA Top 25 — has been greatly assisted this year by a few standout freshmen. Backstroker Tommy Janton has set multiple school records in long course meter backstroke events, and he has cracked the all-time top 10 list in the 100-yard backstroke (46.50 — fourth all-time) and 200-yard backstroke (1:43.32 — seventh all-time).
The Irish women’s team is getting contributions from numerous swimmers and divers across all grades. Sophomore Madelyn Christman is one to watch in the backstroke events, while fellow second-year swimmer Maggie Graves won her first 1650 freestyle of the year earlier this month (16:20.40). Freshman diver Grace Courtney is coming off of her best performance of the year, earning a second-place finish in the 3-meter (284.85) against Navy and Princeton.
There are a few notable happenings outside of the pool, too. In addition to recognizing former dive coach Caiming Xie on Friday night, Notre Dame will celebrate 19 seniors who have dedicated countless hours to their craft. There are three school record holders in the group: Coleen Gillilan, Jack Hoagland and Cason Wilburn.
Gillilan is the fastest woman to ever swim both butterfly events for the blue and gold. In 2021, she posted a time of 51.60 in the 100 and 1:53.94 in the 200. While Coleen will be departing, the family legacy lives on in her younger sister, Renee, who is a freshman on the team. Gillilan said earlier this week that her fondest memories of her time in South Bend are with Renee.
Hoagland, whose 3:40.73 time in the 400 IM is an Irish record, has undoubtedly been the top men’s swimmer on the team this year. The New Mexico native has competed in 11 individual events this season and has won 10 of them. In a tri-meet against Navy and Princeton on Jan. 13-14, Hoagland won the 500 and 1650 freestyle and 400 IM.
Lastly, Wilburn was a member of the record-breaking 800 freestyle relay in 2020 (6:16.80). He ranks in the program’s top 10 all-time in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle and the 100 butterfly. The senior is also a team captain this year.
The meet will have three sessions over two days. Friday’s two sessions will begin at 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., and Caiming’s ceremony will be at 4:45 p.m. Saturday begins at 11 a.m., with senior recognition at 10:30 a.m. The meet will not be streamed, but live results will be available on Meet Mobile.
ORDER OF EVENTS
Session 1:
200 Free Relay
500 Free
200 IM
50 Free
400 Medley Relay
Session 2:
200 Medley Relay
100 Fly
400 IM
200 Free
100 Breast
100 Back
800 Free Relay
Session 3:
1000 Free
200 Back
100 Free
200 Breast
200 Fly
400 Free Relay