The Notre Dame men's swimming and diving team (1-0) was nearly perfect on the opening day of the 2004-05 season, as the Irish failed to claim first place just twice (being disqualified on both occasions) in 23 events en route to a dominating 157-55 dual-meet victory against Evansville and a 118-point margin over the field in winning the Dennis Stark Relays Friday in the Rolfs Aquatic Center. In all, 30 of the 35 student-athletes on the Irish roster took first place at least once, as Notre Dame won its season-opening relay meet for the seventh time in eight years.

Sophomore Katie Carroll (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) delivered a remarkable performance in the first event of the 2004-05 season and an Irish team set a meet record in the 800-yard freestyle relay, as the Notre Dame women's swimming and diving team (1-0) dominated Evansville (161-54) and went on to take first place in the Dennis Stark Relays. Only once in the dual meet did any Purple Ace swimmer touch the wall ahead of a Notre Dame student-athlete, and 26 of the 36 competitors on the Irish roster registered at least one victory on Friday in the Rolfs Aquatic Center. Carroll, the '04 BIG EAST Championships Most Outstanding Swimmer and a two-time honorable mention All-American, wasted no time in establishing herself once again as one of the nation's best in the 400-yard individual medley. In the first race of the season - facing only her teammates in an exhibition heat - she dove in and finished in a time of 4:22.93, which is good enough for an NCAA "B" cut. She came back later in the Evansville meet to win the 200 butterfly in a time of 2:05.19.

That initial performance served as a catalyst for the Irish to get off to a fast start. Notre Dame registered 1-2-3-4 finishes against Evansville in each of the first six events, opening up a 96-18 advantage before beginning to mark some competitors as exhibition swimmers. At the end of the meet, the Irish had 260 points, while Illinois State took second in the eight-team field with 204.

Intent to avoid a slow start to the dual-meet season akin to last season's, the Notre Dame men were extremely dominant in defeating the Purple Aces in afternoon action. The Irish finished 1-2-3-4 in eight of the first nine events, sprinting out to a 143-28 advantage and clinching just their second 1-0 start in the last six years. Local product sophomore Louis Cavadini (South Bend, Ind./Riley H.S.), who registered just two race victories during his entire rookie campaign, paced Notre Dame by claiming first in a pair of events. He posted a time of 21.27 - just 0.36 seconds off his career best - in taking first in the 50-yard freestyle. The Riley High School graduate then came back to claim first place in the 100 free (47.60).

Friday saw just one meet record set in the Dennis Stark Relays. In the 800 free relay, sophomores Ellen Johnson (Toledo, Ohio/Notre Dame Academy) and Ann Barton (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain H.S.), junior Christel Bouvron (Singapore, Singapore/Reffles Girls' Secondary School), and freshman Laura Stafford (Georgetown, Grand Cayman/Cayman Prep & H.S.) posted a time of 7:51.84, breaking the mark of 7:53.38 set last year by an Irish quartet that also was led off by Johnson. The Irish team beat the rest of the field by 12 seconds in the race.

Two other Notre Dame freshmen also were winners in their debuts. Drew MacKay (Georgetown, Grand Cayman/Cayman Prep & H.S.), who represented his native Cayman Islands in the Athens Olympics in August, won the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:54.26, while Graham Parker (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill H.S. East) was first in the final individual event, the 200-yard breaststroke, with a time of 2:13.68.

Sophomore Ted Brown (Kokomo, Ind./Western H.S.) also was impressive against Evansville. He beat the field - which included last year's BIG EAST champion in the event - by more than five seconds in the first race of the season, claiming first in an exhibition heat of the 400 IM with a time of 4:04.42. Brown came back later to win the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:53.53.

Senior captain Matt Bertke (Edgewood, Ky./Covington Catholic H.S.) led off the meet with a win in the 200 freestyle (1:43.94), while other winners for the Irish were school recordholder junior Doug Bauman (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Preparatory School) in the 200 back (1:52.01) and junior Patrick Davis (Clearwater, Fla./Jesuit H.S.) in the 500 free (4:42.03).

Notre Dame finished with 248 points in the Dennis Stark Relays, breaking its record for most points ever in the meet (formerly 230 in 1997). Evansville finished second in the six-team field with 130 points.

Joining Perry-Eaton as a two-time winner against Evansville was Johnson, who won the first official race of the night, the 200-yard freestyle (1:53.85), and then came back to take the 200 backstroke (2:05.62), as well. In addition to leading off the recordbreaking relay at night, Johnson also teamed with freshman Caroline Johnson (Springfield, Mo./Glendale H.S.), Carroll, and sophomore Meghan Linnelli (Canfield, Ohio/Canfield H.S.) to win the 400 free relay in a time of 3:38.22. Ellen Johnson's four victories were unmatched by any other student-athlete who competed in the Rolfs Aquatic Center on Friday. Caroline Johnson joined Kelly Battle (Allison Park, Pa./North Allegheny H.S.) as rookies who claimed individual event titles in their first collegiate dual meets. Johnson took first in the 100 freestyle with a time of 53.19, while Battle was credited with first place in the 500 free (though two exhibition Irish swimmers had quicker times) with a time of 5:23.46.

Johnson ended up with three wins on the day, as she followed classmate Noemie Brand (Point-Claire, Quebec/Phillips Exeter Academy [NH]) into the pool and combined with Stafford and senior Kristen Peterson (Wichita, Kan./Bishop Carroll H.S.) to win the 400 backstroke relay by nearly 13 seconds with a time of 3:57.97.

Battle had a win in the 400 individual medley relay. Carroll led off that group, which was completed by sophomore Jessica Stephens (Bloomsburg, Pa./Bloomsburg H.S.), Battle, and junior Courtney Choura (Bridgeville, Pa./Oakland Catholic H.S.). That quartet outdistanced the field by just under 12 seconds, ending in a time of 4:03.87 in the race that requires each leg to swim a 100-yard IM.

Stephens was a three-time winner, as she first claimed the 200 IM title in the dual meet with a time of 2:05.82 and then joined with Peterson, freshman Natalie Burke (Cape Town, South Africa/Reddam House College), and sophomore Rebecca Grove (Yorktown Heights, N.Y./Yorktown H.S.) to win the 200 medley relay, which also counted in the dual-meet scoring, in a time of 1:50.79.

Grove and senior Katie Eckholt (Omaha, Neb./Marian H.S.) tied for first place in the 50 freestyle against the Purple Aces with identical times of 24.79, while Burke, who will take part in the World Short-Course Championships next week, was the only female swimmer in the meet to be on three winning relays. She was part of Notre Dame's first victory of the Dennis Stark Relays (following the Irish losing the initial event of the meet by .01 seconds), as she followed Grove into the pool and then watched as sophomore Kiley Gooch (Carmel, Ind./Carmel H.S.) and freshman Raine Paulson-Andrews (Montego Bay, Jamaica/Gulliver Prep School [FL]) brought home the victory in the 400 medley relay with a mark of 4:01.42. Burke then led off the 400 breaststroke relay, which turned out to be the most lopsided race of the night. She, Gooch, senior co-captain Georgia Healey (New York, N.Y./Trinity School), and Choura won by nearly 20 seconds, ending up with a time of 4:36.00.

The other individual winner in the dual meet was Healey, who earned first-place points in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:25.28. Burke had the best mark in that event, though she was swimming as an exhibition competitor. Her time of 2:22.71 would have been good enough for 13th place at last spring's BIG EAST Championships.

It will be nearly a month before the Irish jump back into the pool for another competitive meet, as they return to action on Oct. 29 for a dual meet at Utah at 5 p.m. (MDT) in Salt Lake City. The following day will see Notre Dame face Brigham Young in Provo.