Aug. 25, 2005
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – University of Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving head coach Tim Welsh has announced the team’s 2005-06 schedule. The Fighting Irish will host six events, beginning with the season-opening Dennis Stark Relays on Friday, Oct. 7 at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. Notre Dame is looking to keep the momentum going from last year’s BIG EAST title, which was the first in the history of the program. The Irish will face a challenging slate against some of the nation’s top teams.
Following the 41st-annual Dennis Stark Relays, the Irish will welcome in Texas A&M on Friday, Oct. 21. The Aggies, one of the top teams in the country year in and year out, placed 15th at last year’s NCAA Championship. A trip to Purdue on Saturday, Oct. 29 will close out the opening month of the campaign.
“Texas A&M is annually one of the top-25 teams in the country and we are excited to have them on our schedule,” Welsh states. “By starting out against a top team we’ll just have to go out there and see how we are. Then we’ll go to Purdue. The Purdue men’s team and the Notre Dame men’s team have been very even on paper the past couple of years but we haven’t been able to meet in the pool. I love their program and how they approach the sport. We are very happy to have Purdue back on our schedule.”
The Fighting Irish travel to perennial BIG EAST power Pittsburgh on Friday, Nov. 4 to battle the Panthers. Pittsburgh will be looking for a measure of revenge as the Irish dethroned the eight-time defending BIG EAST champions last season. Notre Dame also defeated the Panthers at the Rolfs Aquatic Center last year in a meet that was decided by only 10 points.
“We want to see if we can meet the challenge of going on the road to Pittsburgh,” Welsh comments. “I know we’ll be ready for that. Texas A&M, Purdue and Pittsburgh are all normally ranked in the top-25. So that’s a very strong start.”
Notre Dame faces Michigan State in East Lansing, Mich. on Friday, Nov. 11. Each team has exchanged victories the past two seasons, with the respective home team gaining bragging rights. The Irish will then continue their long-standing rivalry with St. Bonaventure on Saturday, Nov. 19.
The Notre Dame Invitational takes place Thursday, Dec. 1 through Saturday, Dec. 3 at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.
“This year’s Notre Dame Invitational is going to be somewhat smaller but it will feature teams from the west,” Welsh says. “Wyoming is coming back and Utah is coming back after we had a dual meet out there last year. So it’ll kind of have a western flavor, which I like. Truman State is also coming back under a new coach and they are the defending Division II champions. Saint Louis has been a traditional team in the field and they will also be back. It’ll be a smaller but also a very strong field.”
The team will ring in 2006 at a Holiday Break training session and competition in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. The Irish will escape the Indiana winter to train for a couple weeks in the warmth of Florida.
Notre Dame travels to Evansville, Ind. for a match-up with the Purple Aces on Friday, Jan. 13. Some members of the Irish will also be competing at the Dallas Morning News Meet that same weekend of Jan. 13 and 14.
“The Dallas Morning News Meet is one of the most prestigious meets in the country,” Welsh says. “Everybody brings eight swimmers and a diver. It will include all ranked teams in SMU, Florida, Florida State, Northwestern, Washington and Notre Dame. That’s the field. It will also be the first time Notre Dame has competed in this event.”
Another difficult opponent awaits the Irish as they travel to Evanston, Ill. for a dual meet with Northwestern on Friday, Jan. 20. Notre Dame will head back home for the annual match-up versus Cleveland State on Saturday, Jan. 21.
Notre Dame closes out the regular-season by hosting the Shamrock Invitational on Friday, Jan. 27 and Saturday, Jan. 28. The invitational will feature a very strong field in Louisville, Oakland (Mich.), Missouri and Penn State along with the Fighting Irish.
The Irish will look to defend their BIG EAST title at the 2006 BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championships Wednesday, Feb. 15 through Saturday, Feb. 18. The conference meet will take place in Long Island, N.Y.
“We want to do more than defend our BIG EAST title,” Welsh says. “We definitely want to defend it but we also want to improve over last year’s team. We want to be faster than we were last year and we also want to repeat. Then we’ll want to move from there to the NCAA Championships in March.”
The final opportunity to qualify for the NCAA Championships will take place at The Last Chance Meet, which is hosted by Purdue, on Sunday, Mar. 5.
Ohio State will host the NCAA Zone Diving Meet Friday, Mar. 10 through Sunday, Mar. 12. The NCAA Championships at Georgia Tech take place Thursday, Mar. 23 through Saturday, Mar. 25.
“What’s exciting to us is that as these last few schedules have developed we’ve been able to add teams that normally compete at a level that we aspire to be at,” Welsh states. “It’s our ambition and our goal to compete at this level. So it’s exciting for us to include teams on the schedule who are already at that level. We’ll see how we do. If the challenge is there, there’s a chance we’ll rise to it. If the challenge wasn’t there, we’d rise to it more slowly. We’re excited to have the challenge even though we have no idea what the outcome of the schedule might be.”
2005-06 NOTRE DAME MEN’S SWIMMING & DIVING SCHEDULE
OCTOBER
7 Fri. DENNIS STARK RELAYS 6:30 p.m.
21 Fri. TEXAS A&M 6:00 p.m.
29 Sat. at Purdue (men & women) 1:00 p.m.
NOVEMBER4 Fri. at Pittsburgh 4:00 p.m.
11 Fri. at Michigan State 5:00 p.m.
19 Sat. ST. BONAVENTURE 9:30 a.m.
DECEMBER1-3 Thur.-Sat. NOTRE DAME INVITATIONAL 10:00 a.m./6:30 p.m.
JANUARY Holiday Break Competition TBA (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.)
13 Fri. at Evansville 5:00 p.m.
13&14 Fri.&Sat. at Dallas Morning News Meets TBA
20 Fri. at Northwestern 6:00 p.m.
21 Sat. CLEVELAND STATE 2:00 p.m.
27&28 Fri.&Sat. SHAMROCK INVITATIONAL 6:00 p.m./10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.
FEBRUARY15-18 Wed.-Sat. BIG EAST Championships 10:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. (Long Island, NY)
MARCH5 Sun. Last Chance Meet (at Purdue) TBA
10-12 Fri.-Sun. NCAA Zone Diving Meet (at Ohio State) 11:00 a.m.
23-25 Thurs.-Sat. NCAA Championships (at Georgia Tech) 12:00 p.m.-7:00p.m.
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