October 1, 1998

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams begin their 1998-99 seasons with dual meets against visiting Stanford at the Rolfs Aquatic Center on Friday, October 2 at 4 p.m.

Both the Stanford men and women are the reigning NCAA Div. I champions and are making their first trip to Notre Dame. The Cardinal squad includes some of the best swimmers in the world such as 1996 Olympians Ellin Austevoll (Norway) and Gabrielle Rose (Brazil), six-time NCAA champion Catherine Fox and sophomore sensation Misty Hyman, who already is a seven-time All-American and five-time NCAA champion. Making the trip for the Stanford men will be 12-time All-American Dod Wales, five-time All-Americans Justin Ewers and Glenn Counts and four-time All-Americans Matthew Pierce and Anthony Robinson

The Irish women are coming off the 1997-98 season where they placed 23rd at the NCAA championships and repeated for the second-straight year as BIG EAST Conference Champions. Leading the way for the team against Stanford will be three-time All-American Shannon Suddarth and NCAA qualifiers Brittany Kline (Crystal Lake, Ill.) and Carrie Nixon (Ouray, Col.).

The Notre Dame men, meanwhile, placed fourth at the BIG EAST meet, their best finish ever, and concluded their 1997-98 dual meet season with a 11-1 record. The Irish will be led this season by senior Scott Zumbach (Katonah, N.Y.), who holds Notre Dame individual records in the 200-yard butterfly and the 400 individual medley, and co-captains Chris Fugate (Independence, MO) and Steele Whowell (Fontana, Wis.).

The Irish follow up their dual meets against Stanford by hosting the 12-team Notre Dame Relays next Friday, October 9 at 6 p.m.