March 22, 2013
Friday Diving Consolation Final/Preliminary Results
Friday Swimming Preliminary Results
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Sophomore Emma Reaney became only third Notre Dame swimmer or diver to finish in the top five of an event in program history with her fifth-place finish during the second day of action at the 2013 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships held at the IU Natatorium. In fact, it was the highest finish by an Irish swimmer in the 100 breaststroke in school history. With her fifth-place showing, Reaney now has six All-America citations, the sixth most in Notre Dame history. It was the first appearance in the “A” Final for the Lawrence, Kan. native in her young career.
“It is a relief as I just missed it every time last year. This year that was probably my biggest goal,” explained Reaney, “It feels great.”
“It is very appropriate for a student from the University of Notre Dame to be an All-American and to receive those kinds of honors,” said head coach Brian Barnes, “It is great.”
Senior Jenny Chiang concluded her Notre Dame career with her first Honorable Mention All-America scroll as she finished in 12th place off the 3-meter springboard. The Fairport, N.Y. native recorded 330.75 points in the “B” Final, which surpassed her preliminary session tally of 326.25 points. The 12th place finish is the highest by an Irish diver off of the 3-meter board since 2002 when Heather Mattingly finished in 8th place off of the 3-meter board.
“This is a good meet for her and she had some great dives,” said diving head coach Caiming Xie, “It has been a good career for her. She has been working very hard for the past four years. I’m happy and proud of her.”
The Irish have now scored 36 points in the meet after two days, which places Notre Dame in 17th place overall. The 36 points are the third highest point total in program history, trailing only the 2000 total of 74.5 points and the 2002 total of 52 points.
“As a team we are doing well. We are top 20 right now which is great. There are things we are working on with individuals and we trying to find ways to swim faster,” said Barnes, “We are looking at the scoreboard and we are trying to move up.”
Earlier in the morning during the preliminary session, both senior Kim Holden and junior Kelly Ryan competed in the 100 back for Notre Dame, marking the first time since 2008 that the Irish had multiple individuals in an event at the NCAA Championships.
Tomorrow, the Irish will race in the 400 free relay, while Emma Reaney (200 breaststroke), Kelly Ryan (200 backstroke, 100 freestyle), Kim Holden (200 backstroke), and Bridget Casey (200 butterfly) will all compete in individual events.
Tomorrow’s action begins at 11 a.m. (ET) with the preliminary session for Day 3, the final day, of the 2013 NCAA Championships. Irish fans can follow the action on ESPN3.com, which will stream the Saturday finals session. Live results can be found by clicking here.
Finals Session | Event Summaries
100 Breaststroke – Reaney went out in a 28.18 for the first 50 yards ââ’¬¦ she came back in 31.01 over the second 50 to finish in 59.19 and in fifth place.
3-meter Springboard – Chiang rebounded from a difficult first dive with fantastic third, fourth and fifth dives and improved on her preliminary session score, totaling 330.75 ââ’¬¦ that score resulted in a 12th place overall performance and a Honorable Mention All-America scroll.
Preliminary Session | Event Summaries
200 Medley Relay – Ryan led the Irish off with a backstroke leg of 25.65 ââ’¬¦ Reaney pulled the Irish in front with a dominating breaststroke leg (27.33) ââ’¬¦ Holden (23.82) and Galletti (22.55) held on as the Irish won their heat of the preliminary session ââ’¬¦ the Irish finished 22nd overall out of the 28 teams.
100 Butterfly – Holden took seventh in her heat with a 53.76 performance ââ’¬¦ she was 37th overall out of 50 swimmers.
100 Breaststroke – Reaney went out strong over the first 50 (28.27) ââ’¬¦ she took control of second place on the homestretch to finish in 59.12 and sixth overall ââ’¬¦ she became the first Irish swimmer to qualify for the “A” Final in the 100 breast since 2009.
100 Backstroke – Both Holden (53.33, 26th) and Ryan (54.04, 43rd) competed for Notre Dame in the event ââ’¬¦ it was the first time the Irish have had multiple swimmers in an NCAA event since 2008.
3-meter Springboard – Chiang used a great fourth and fifth dive to finish in 14th place overall, which qualified her for the consolation final with a score of 326.25.
All-America (AA) and Honorable Mention All-America (HM) Accolades
Emma Reaney – 100 Breaststroke (AA), 200 IM (HM), 400 Medley Relay (HM)
Jenny Chiang – 3-meter Diving (HM)
Kelly Ryan – 400 Medley Relay (HM)
Kim Holden – 400 Medley Relay (HM)
Catherine Galletti – 400 Medley Relay (HM)
NCAA Recap:
5th – 100 Breaststroke
9th – 200 IM
13th – 400 Medley Relay
22nd – 200 Medley Relay
13th – 400 Medley Relay
22nd – 200 Medley Relay
43rd – 100 Backstroke
13th – 400 Medley Relay
22nd – 200 Medley Relay
26th – 100 Backstroke
37th – 100 Butterfly
13th – 400 Medley Relay
22nd – 200 Medley Relay
12th – 3-meter Diving
23rd – 1-meter Diving
— ND —