March 22, 2017
By Sinhue Mendoza
INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana – The No. 19 University of Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team had a strong first swim at the 2017 NCAA Division I Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships at the IU Natatorium.
Strong Seventeen
The national championships got started with the 800 free relay and the Irish squad, that placed fourth in the ACC, did not disappoint.
Notre Dame’s foursome of Tabahn Afrik, Reed Fujan, Benjamin Jany and Aaron Schultz placed 17th with a time of 6:20.20. The Irish missed the finals by a single spot as the top 16 teams advance to the finals.
Senior Reed Fujan, who swam the opening leg, recorded the second-fastest 200 free in Notre Dame history at 1:33.74. Fujan will have a chance to better his time tomorrow morning at the morning prelims for the individual event.
COACH LITZINGER’S THOUGHTS
“A very solid start for our men. Reed Fujan led off in the relay with the second-fastest time in Notre Dame history and the rest of our squad was right at their ACC swims. I am happy with our swim, 17th is a tough spot as we are just out of the scoring but tomorrow we have some great events.”
WHEN AND HOW TO WATCH THE IRISH
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 broadcast via tape delay at 5 p.m. ET, Wednesday, April 5. 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, @NDMensswimdive, with a complete recap posted to und.com at the conclusion of the meet.
Thursday, March 23
Day 2 Swimming Trials
200 Free Relay (Justin Plaschka, Daniel Speers, Tabahn Afrik, Reed Fujan)
200 Individual Medley (Robby Whitacre)
50 Free (Justin Plaschka, Daniel Speers)
400 Medley Relay (Justin Plaschka, Daniel Speers, Robby Whitacre, Trent Jackson)
12:30 p.m.
1-meter Diving Trials (Joe Coumos)
15 minutes following trials
Consolation/Final (9-16)
6:00 p.m. Day 2 Finals
200 Free Relay- Consolation Final (Justin Plaschka, Daniel Speers, Tabahn Afrik, Reed Fujan)
400 Medley Relay – Consolation Final (Justin Plaschka, Daniel Speers, Robby Whitacre, Trent Jackson)
Friday, March 24
10:00 a.m. Day 3 Swimming Trials
100 Fly (Justin Plaschka)
100 Breast (Trent Jackson)
100 Back (Robby Whitacre)
12:15 p.m.
3-meter Diving Trials (Joe Coumos)
15 minutes following trials
Consolation/Final (9-16)
6:00 p.m. Day 3 Finals
100 Fly Consolation/Final
100 Breast Consolation/ Final
100 Back Consolation/Final
3-meter Diving Final
200 Medley Relay Consolation/Final
Saturday, March 25
10:00 a.m. Day 4 Swimming Trials
400 Free Relay (Justin Plaschka, Daniel Speers, Tabahn Afrik, Reed Fujan)
200 Back (Robby Whitacre)
100 Free ((Justin Plaschka, Daniel Speers)
200 Breast (Trent Jackson)
6:00 p.m. Day 4 Finals
200 Back Consolation/Final
100 Free Consolation/Final
200 Breast Consolation/Final
Platform Diving Finals
400 Free Relay Consolation/Final