Nov. 12, 2010
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Backed by a raucous standing-room only crowd Friday at the Rolfs Aquatic Center, the Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team bounced back from last week’s loss to Purdue with a resounding 184-116 win against the Utah after taking first in 13 of the 16 events.
Many close races characterized the meet, but the Irish (3-2) found themselves on the golden side of the tight finishes for most of the afternoon.
Bill Bass (500 free, 200 IM), Eric Lex (1-meter, 3-meter diving) and Frankie Dyer (50 free, 100 free) all won multiple events for the Irish as they handled the Utes on the eve of the football matchup between the two programs. Michael Sullivan (1,000 free), Petar Petrovic (100 back), Connor Wills (200 fly), Mason Weber (100 breast) and Joseph Raycroft (200 breast) all took home additional gold hardware while leading the Irish to a 68-point margin of victory.
“This was a very competitive meet for us and we received a number of great swims across the board,” Irish head coach Tim Welsh said. “Utah swam very well, but you’ve got to applaud our guys for stepping up to the challenge. The spirit and competiveness was all there, and it was fun to swim in front of a packed house. We were obviously able to swim faster in this environment. It was a killer week for us in terms of academics, our work in the weight room and at practice. It was important for us to remain focused on the meet itself and perform well, which we were able to do.”
Notre Dame travels to Iowa City, Iowa, for the Iowa Invitational (Dec. 3-5). Three road meets mark the beginning of the 2011 portion of the schedule, as the next home contest will be the Shamrock Invitational held Jan. 28-29.
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200 Medley Relay: Wills propelled the Irish B-relay out to an early lead on the backstroke … Weber kept that lead for the breaststroke leg but the Utah relay and the Irish A-tandem made up some ground … and Utah held on for the victory (1:33.11) … the Irish squad of Petrovic, Christopher Johnson, Jordan Berry and Dyer took second (1:33.71).
1,000 Freestyle: At the halfway mark, Sullivan held a nearly half-pool length lead on the nearest competitor … Sullivan held on for the win in 9:33.27 … Utah’s Rick Mason took second (9:43.08) and Wesley Mullins took third (9:48.22).
200 Freestyle: Utah’s Brent Murray, swimming from lane one, went out to the early lead … a late charge by Bass (1:42.25) wasn’t enough to catch him and Murray took the gold (1:42.12) … Utah’s Garret Beaman took third (1:42.70).
100 Backstroke: Petrovic and Bertie Nel hit the wall first and second to secure some much needed points for the Irish … their times were 51.31 and 51.58, respectively … Utah’s Major Robinson earned bronze in 51.84.
100 Breaststroke: Weber took the field by surprise from an outside lane and turned in a very strong time of 56.87 to win the gold for his first collegiate win … Johnson took second just behind him (56.99) … Utah’s Garrett Peterson took third (57.46).
200 Butterfly: A close race was capped off by a thrilling finish in which the top three finished within two-tenths of a second of each other … Wills won the thriller (1:53.28) but was closely followed by Utah’s Bonicelli (1:53.30) … Steven Brus trailed just behind and touched in at 1:53.47 for third.
50 Freestyle: Dyer took the gold (20.85) … followed closely by Utah’s Murray (21.10) … Bjorn Gunnarsson took third (21.44).
1-meter Diving: Lex took top honors (315.67) … Wesley Villaflor took second with 302.25 points … Nate Geary completed the medal-stand sweep for the Irish with 273.30 points.
100 Freestyle: Dyer took home his second gold (45.98) … Utah’s Garret Beaman took second (46.25) and Murray placed third (46.40).
200 Backstroke: At the halfway mark, Petrovic was out to a small lead but Utah’s Robinson began closing in … Robinson took the gold in 1:50.51 … Petrovic took silver (1:51.83) and Josh Nosal rounded out the top three (1:56.82).
200 Breaststroke: The field remained close through the first half of the race … with 50 yards to go, Raycroft began to distinguish himself from the rest of the heat and cruised to the victory in 2:05.03 … Utah’s Peterson took second (2:06.47) and the Irish’s Peter Koppel took third (2:07.74).
500 Freestyle: Sullivan took the lead through the 250-yard mark … but Bass put on a late charge over the final 100 yards and out-touched him, 4:37.73 to 4:37.87 … Bryan Michaels of Utah took third (4:42.19).
100 Butterfly: Karson Applin ran away with the race, posting a time of 50.57 … Utah’s Andy Lamb took second (51.84) and Luke Donohue took third (52.08).
3-meter Diving: Lex took his second title of the day and placed first in 360.45 … Geary took second (329.25) … Villaflor rounded out the top three (320.55).
200 Individual Medley: Bass pulls ahead after the breaststroke and captured the win in 1:52.23 … Berry took second (1:53.84) and Nel took third (1:54.83).
400 Freestyle Relay: Dyer went out for the early lead (split of 46.16) … Bass was caught by Gunnarsson and the third leg dove in simultaneously … Nosal pulled away again for the Irish, leaving Applin a body-length behind … Thomas Van Volkenburg brought it home for the Irish (3:04.78) … Utah took second (3:06.08).
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