October 10, 1998

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – In their second meet of the season, the Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both placed first ahead of six other collegiate squads in a event held at the Rolfs Aquatic Center at Notre Dame.

On the women’s side, the Irish won all but one swimming event and both diving events to earn a total score of 228 points, 50 ahead of second place Illinois-Chicago. Notre Dame, the defending BIG EAST champions, broke six pool records in the 200 freestyle, 400 medley, 800 freestyle, 400 breaststroke, 1,000 freestyle relays and the one-meter diving event.

On the men’s side, Notre Dame beat second place Illinois-Chicago by only 10 points, despite losing only one swimming event. With the Irish having no divers in the competition, Illinois-Chicago picked up 36 points to pull within 10 of Notre Dame in the final tally. Illinois-Chicago diver Ryan Nelson posted a 300.70 score in the one-meter diving event to qualify him for the 1999 NCAA zone diving meet in Indianapolis, Ind. Nelson also combined with teammate Chuck Rock to set meet records in both the one- and three-meter diving events. In addition to the two diving meet records, the Irish set four men’s meet records in the 800 freestyle, the 400 butterfly, the 400 backstroke and the 200 medley relay.

The Notre Dame Relays was the 34th annual competition for the men and the 15th such meet for the women. All races were run in a relay format, rather than on an individual basis.

The Irish men will be back in action when they play host to Air Force and Army on October 23, while the women will travel to Miami, Fla. for a dual meet with the Hurricanes on October 16.

Team Scores: Women – 1. Notre Dame (228); 2. Illinois-Chicago (178); 3. Valparaiso (130); 4. Butler (118); 5. Marquette (90); 6. St. Mary’s (80)

Men – 1. Notre Dame (192); 2. Illinois-Chicago (182); 3. Wabash (162); 4. Valparaiso (112); 5. Butler (96); 6. Marquette (50)