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Notre Dame Travels to Lexington For First Road Meet

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — The Notre Dame Swim and Dive Team will tackle its first road meet of the season in a mid-day matchup with Indiana and Kentucky on Wednesday, Oct. 9. The Irish are 1-0 after both the men and women beat Florida State at their first home meet of the season on Friday, Oct. 4, and look to continue their success on the road. 

Meet information

Last Friday against Florida State, both the Irish men and women rolled to substantial wins over the ACC foe. Three Irish swimmers held or currently hold the nation’s top times in five total events: 

  • Junior Zach Yeadon placed first in the 1000 freestyle (8:57.69) and 500 freestyle (4:20.63), breaking a pool record in the 1000 free and posting the fastest current time in both events in the NCAA this season. Notre Dame’s 400 freestyle relay, of which Yeadon was a part, also holds the top NCAA time after edging Florida State in a come-from-behind win on Friday (2:58.15). 
  • Senior Abbie Dolan raced to first in the 100 (1:46.97) and 200 Freestyle (49.75) heats, posting a then-NCAA-best time in the 200 free. 
  • Freshman Coleen Gillilan began her rookie season with a bang on Friday, winning the 100 Fly (53.32) and the 200 IM (1:59.60), recording a then-NCCA-best time in the 100 Fly. 

Notre Dame will face Kentucky (ranked RV-Men/10-Women in 2019) and Indiana (3-Men/11-Women in 2019) on Wednesday, marking the second consecutive season the Irish will take on those two teams in a road opener. In 2018, the Irish women went undefeated in this series of dual meets, also taking on Missouri that weekend. The men fell to all three squads in 2018. Yeadon, Dolan, Lindsay Stone, Luciana Thomas and Bayley Stewart posted individual wins in their respective events. 

Notre Dame will look to swimmers like Yeadon, Dolan and Gillilan to make their mark, also depending on Jack Montesi (back), Max Miranda (fly) and Josh Bottelberghe (breast) on the men’s side. 

On the diving end, head coach Mike Litzinger expressed confidence in men’s diver Austin Flaute, who won the 3-meter competition vs. Florida State. The women’s diving group, he said, is one of the best he has coached. 

“We have probably the strongest women’s diving program that we’ve had since I’ve been at Notre Dame competing this week,” Litzinger shared. Kelly Straub notched a win in the 1-meter dive, missing a second win in the 3-meter by less than a point. 

The Irish will look to continue their success coming off victories vs. Florida State into this week, matching up with two strong teams. 

“It’s always great to open with a win, so you want to continue the excitement, the momentum from that win to the next,” Litzinger explained. “The goal is, like every one of our meets, race rehearsal for championship-level competition. Every one of our dual meets is a lead-up practice for the ACC Championships and for the NCAA Championships.”

“At the end of the day, we’re just trying to practice race strategy, put our great training into use and put together a really good team effort.”

And at 10 a.m. on a Wednesday, Litzinger said that while the timing is unusual for his student athletes, as they are normally in class, attitude is everything. 

“I think the key is just a really good mindset: walking into the meet, staying very positive, and then turning on that competitive switch,” he expressed. “It doesn’t matter what time it is or where the meet is at. We have to compete. It’s important for them to put that mindset to use.”