Feb. 13, 2017
By Sinhue Mendoza
ATLANTA – Notre Dame had a stellar start to the 2017 ACC Women’s Swimming Championships and the ACC Diving Championships. Several school records were broken throughout the day and the Irish earned their first NCAA-A Cut time of the 2016-17 season.
DIVE LIKE A CHAMPION TODAY
Men’s 1 Meter Dive
Junior Joe Coumos made school history when his score of 420.00 earned him the 2017 ACC Men’s 1 Meter Dive Championship. It was Notre Dame’s first-ever championship in diving as a member of the ACC. The 32 points scored for the Irish are key going into the men’s swimming championships scheduled for February 27-March 2.
COACH XIE’S THOUGHTS
On Joe Coumos’ ACC diving championshipââ’¬¦
“Joe and our entire team are very excited for his historic ACC Championship. We had set a goal to win the ACC Men’s 1-meter in the beginning of season and to achieve this goal he worked hard the whole season.”
“He’s a very competitive diver, during the meet he was very focused, stayed calm and performed his dives in high quality.”
STANDOUT SWIMS
Women’s 200 Medley Relay
In the first event of the championships, the Fighting Irish quartet of Catherine Mulquin, Meaghan O’Donnell, Nicole Smith and Katie Smith earned an NCAA A-Cut time with a school-record swim of 1:36.93. The previous record had stood since 2014. The record-setting effort makes the team eligible for the 2017 NCAA Championships.
800 Free Relay
The Irish relays weren’t done with their historic day when the foursome of Abbie Dolan, Lauren Heller, Reilly Lanigan and Kyra Sarazen swam a school-record time of 7:06.88. The time earned them an NCAA B-Cut time and was good for fifth place in the event.
Freshmen Phenom
Abbie Dolan continued her outstanding rookie season. Her leadoff split in the record-breaking 800 free relay broke the previous school record in the 200 free. Dolan touched the wall with a time of 1:44.65. The prior mark was set in 2008. Her time was good for a NCAA B-Cut time. She has an opportunity to beat her school record on Wednesday morning in the 200 free preliminary race.
COACH LITZINGER’S THOUGHTS
On today’s historic effort at the Olympic pool in Atlanta …
“It was an incredible evening for our women. Three school records and Abbie Dolan’s lead off 200 got us off to a great start. Abbie’s time and our 200 medley relay have qualified for the NCAA Championships and that is very exciting for our program.”
On Joe Coumos ACC Championship in the men’s 1 meter diving …
“Joe is our first ever men’s ACC Champion. Great work by coach Caiming Xie and hats off to Joe.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s races…
“Tomorrow the meet will get into individual events and I expect us to build momentum throughout the following days.”
UP NEXT
Notre Dame continues competition in the 2017 Women’s ACC Championships Tuesday. Diving begins in the morning and Irish faithful can follow through the Live Link. The ACC Network Extra will cover the ACC Women’s Swimming and the Men’s and Women’s Diving Championships on February 14-16.
Tuesday, February 14 – http://es.pn/2jSSLIQ
Wednesday, February 15 – http://es.pn/2jTaxOQ
Thursday, February 16 – http://es.pn/2jAHz2T
Supporters can also follow live results of the week’s action on both team Twitter accounts, @NDWSwimDive and @NDMensswimdive, with a complete recap posted to und.com at the conclusion of the meet.