Jan. 27, 2017
By Sinhue Mendoza
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame swimming and diving team put together a strong start in first day action of the 2017 Shamrock Invitational.
The men lead the field with 366 points, followed by Wisconsin (338.5), Grand Canyon University (244) and Missouri State (133.5). The women find themselves in a tight race with Wisconsin. The Badgers have 369 points while the Irish have recorded 335. Grand Canyon sits third with 194, Nebraska is fourth with 134 and Clemson (who is only competing in women’s diving) rounds out the top five with 60 points.
STANDOUT SWIMS
Records at the Rolfs
The women got the Irish off to a great start in the day’s first event. Katie Smith, Abbie Dolan, Catherine Mulquin and Sofia Revilak won their event and broke the Notre Dame 200 free relay record with a time of 1:29.93.
The male quartet of Justin Plaschka, Daniel Speers, Reed Fujan and Tabahn Afrik followed suit. They set a Rolfs Aquatic Center pool record in the 200 free relay recording a time of 1:19.25.
Catherine Mulquin would also go on to break a women’s team and pool record when her leadoff split in the 400 medley relay time of 52.84 broke the previous Notre Dame backstroke record set by Kim Holden in 2011. The record time for Mulquin earned her a NCAA B-cut mark that gives her a strong likelihood of competing in this year’s NCAA Championships. The relay team of Mulquin, Meghan O’Donnell, Sofia Revilak and Abbie Dolan won the event with a time of 3:35.40 and it was good to also break the pool record for the 400 medley relay at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.
COACH LITZINGER’S THOUGHTS
On tonight’s performance…
“I enjoyed today and I hope the athletes did as well. We had some really great opportunities but we’re still a work in progress. We have some serious work to do before we hit the conference championship.”
“Our goal was to improve our times going into the ACCs and I think we’re accomplishing that.”
On what he wants for his program with big meets like Shamrock Invitational …
“Having those relays, racing Wisconsin and the rest of the teams here, is really good for us right now. We’re being pushed and we’re pushing other teams.”
“We want to be in the competitive cauldron of swimming at a high level and we’re doing that right now.”
On what he sees in his team after today’s meet …
“We need the rest of our team to embrace the competition. I think they’re doing it and we’re really close to doing it as a full team but I told the group if you’re not getting what you want we need to reset and get after it tomorrow.”
SHAMROCK INVITATIONAL MEET NOTES
- The men’s 400 medley relay team of Robby Whitacre, Trent Jackson, Justin Plaschka and Tabahn Afrik won the race with a time of 3:11.15.
- On the board, Joe Coumos won the men’s 1-meter diving event with a score of 310.30.
- Alice Treuth, Sherri McIntee, Erin Sheehan and Lauren Heller took home second place with a time of 3:39.67.
- Katie Smith earned points for the Irish finishing second in the women’s 50 free with a time
- Daniel Speers came in third in the men’s 50 free with a time of 20.24.
UP NEXT
Notre Dame continues competition in the second day of the Shamrock Invitational Saturday with the first session starting at 10 a.m. and the second session at 4 p.m. The team will recognize its departing seniors at 3:30 p.m. Fans can follow live results of the meet through the Live Stats Link on und.com as well as through both team Twitter accounts, @NDWSwimDive and @NDMensswimdive. A complete recap of action will get posted to und.com at the conclusion of each day’s action.
– ND –
Sinhue Mendoza has been part of Fighting Irish Media since July of 2016 and oversees communications efforts for the Notre Dame swimming and diving program, manages media and broadcast credentialing for all sports while overseeing football and basketball game day media operations. Mendoza is a 2008 graduate of the Newhouse School at Syracuse University where he earned a degree in broadcast journalism and political science.