March 7, 2017
By Sinhue Mendoza
NOTRE DAME, Indiana – The No. 23 University of Notre Dame women’s swimming and diving team had nine swimmers qualify for the 2017 NCAA Division I Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships. That is the most the team has taken since 2002 and ties the school record of sending nine to the championships. Five student-athletes will compete in individual races and another four will join them in relays. The championships will be held March 15-18 at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.
Freshman Abbie Dolan, freshman Erin Sheehan, sophomore Meaghan O’Donnell, sophomore Alice Treuth and senior Catherine Mulquin will swim in a total of 12 races. Freshman Katie Smith, freshman Lauren Heller, sophomore Nikki Smith and sophomore Sofia Revilak will compete in relays.
A total of 322 participants (281 swimmers and 41 divers) will compete in the championships. Swimmers qualified for the championships by meeting the established minimum time for the events in which they entered. Divers will be determined by performances at the Zone Diving Meets held March 6-11. The complete list of swimmers competing in the championships is available at www.usaswimming.org/ncaa. Selected divers will be announced Sunday, March 12.
THE IRISH IN INDY
Abbie Dolan: 50 free, 100 free, 200 free, 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 400 medley relay
Catherine Mulquin: 100 back, 200 back, 100 free, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay, 200 free relay, 400 free relay.
Alice Treuth: 100 back, 200 back
Meaghan O’Donnell: 100 breast, 200 breast, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay
Erin Sheehan: 100 fly, 200 fly, 400 medley relay
Relay swimmers: Katie Smith, Nicole Smith, Sofia Revilak, Lauren Heller
200 medley relay: Catherine Mulquin, Meaghan O’Donnell, Nicole Smith, Katie Smith
400 medley relay: Catherine Mulquin, Meaghan O’Donnell, Erin Sheehan, Abbie Dolan
200 free relay: Katie Smith, Catherine Mulquin, Sofia Revilak, Abbie Dolan
400 free relay: Katie Smith, Catherine Mulquin, Sofia Revilak, Abbie Dolan
COACH LITZINGER’S THOUGHTS
On his squad going to the national championships…
“All these kids, except for Catherine Mulquin, will compete in the NCAA championships for the first time. There’s a lot to be done and we’re going to prep them the right way. It’s a real big meet that we’re excited about.”
On the NCAA championships…
“It’s what we do, we peak and go back to work and try to go faster the next time.”
THE IRISH RENAISSANCE
The Notre Dame women’s squad continued its resurgent 2016-17 season with a seventh-place finish at the 2017 ACC Championships. The Irish registered 654.5 points — the most for Notre Dame’s women in the ACC Championships since 2014. Every single swimmer on the Irish women’s roster earned points and four of the five relay squads set Notre Dame records at the meet.
HOW TO FOLLOW
ESPN3.com will stream the finals sessions live on Friday and Saturday. Wednesday’s evening session, Thursday’s sessions along with the morning sessions on Friday and Saturday will be streamed live on NCAA.com and indianasportscorp.org/ncaasd. Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour broadcast via tape delay at 7 p.m. ET, Tuesday, March 28.
Live results for the championships will be available on NCAA.com.
Notre Dame fans can also follow live results of the week’s action on the team’s Twitter account, @NDWSwimdive, with a complete recap posted to und.com at the conclusion of the meet.