The Shamrock Invite got off to a roaring start Friday night, as fans packed the Rolfs Aquatic Center to cheer on the Irish against Missouri State, Incarnate Word and Big Ten foe Iowa. Highlights included a new men's pool record set by Iowa in the 400 medley relay and a new diving personal best.
"We were pretty solid today; we're in a good fight in the dual meets and we plan to come back tomorrow prepared to step up and race even a bit better," Irish skipper Matt Tallman said. "We have a number of things to be excited about, and we're looking forward to the rest of the meet and this weekend."
In the first event of the night, the 200 free relay, Iowa's A-team touched first, 1:21.87, followed closely by Notre Dame's A-lineup of Justin Plaschka, Zachary Stephens, Kevin Bradley and Patrick Olson (1:22.03). The Irish B-squad of Reed Fujan, Bogac Ayhan, Rob Whitacre and Gabe Ostler came in fourth (1:24.20).
In the 500 free, four heats were swam and a total of 32 entrants competed, with Iowa again claiming victory on the back of Chris Dawson (4:30.60). Top Irish finishers were John Nappi in third (4:31.90), Benjamin Jany in ninth (4:37.42).
In the 200 IM the senior class dominated, with Stephens finishing in second (1:50.49), Olson touching the wall in third (1:50.90), and Cameron Miller coming in ninth (1:53.98). Fujan touched in 1:55.03, good for 13th place and was followed closely by Whitacre (14th, 1:55.06) and Bradley (15th, 1:55.07). Other swimmers for the Irish included Andrew Jensen (21st, 1:59.29), Shane McKenzie (1:50.01), Michael Schiffer (1:56.14) and Harlin Bessire (disqualified).
In the 50 free, Plaschka earned top billing with his 20.52 finish - good for first place. Matthew DeBlasio clinched 19th (22.12) with the only other non-exhibition swim. Joseph Krause (20.78), Ostler (21.10) and Michael Hudspith (21.16) also swam.
In the last race of the night, the 400 medley relay, Iowa's A-team of Grant Bertulius, Roman Trussov, Jerzy Twarowski and Joseph Halsmer set a new pool record with their 3:14.92 showing. Notre Dame's A-squad of Ayhan, Stephens, Williamson and Plaschka came in second (3:19.11) with Missouri State's A-lineup clinching third.
In diving, the men's 1-meter event was closely contested, as Joseph Coumos nearly broke the school record with his 374.80 final score. Coumos finished first, and was followed by Nick Nemetz in second (344.40 points) and James Lichtenstein in third (325.90 points). Ted Wagner set a new personal best with his 319.40 mark, finishing sixth. Wagner was followed by Michael Kreft in seventh (304.75) and Peter Myers in eighth (291.20).
The Shamrock Invite continues Saturday morning at 10 a.m. ET, with the final meet session starting at 5 p.m. ET.
The 2015 Shamrock Invitational got off to a fast start Friday night, as senior All-American Emma Reaney lowered her own 200 IM Rolfs Aquatic Center record before teaming with Catherine Galletti, Courtney Whyte and Catherine Mulquin to break the pool’s 400 medley relay record.
In the 200 IM, the Lawrence, Kansas native led from beginning to end by going 25.70 in the butterfly, 29.67 in the backstroke, 33.40 in the breaststroke and 28.17 in the freestyle. All four splits were the best of any competitor in the field. She touched the wall in an NCAA B cut time of 1:56.94, which was over five seconds faster than her nearest competitor, and lowered her own pool record (1:58.42) set last year at the same meet by over 1.48 seconds. The time was also over four seconds faster than her previous best time this year (2:01.43).
Wrapping up night one’s action was an impressive performance by the foursome of Galletti, Reaney, Whyte and Mulquin, who blazed to a pool record in the 400 medley relay (3:39.21). Galletti got the squad started with a 54.37 in the 100 back, before Reaney went 1:00.99 in the 100 breast, Whyte went 53.57 in the 100 fly and Mulquin went 50.28 in the 100 free. The time was 6.63 seconds faster than the next closest team and over four seconds faster than the previous best Irish 400 medley relay time this season.
The time broke the old record (3:42.75) set January 11, 2008 by Indiana’s foursome of Zubkova (an Olympian), Stockwell, Smailis and Bard.
Notre Dame claimed three of the top four spots in the 50 free. Mulquin and Galletti took the top two spots with times of 23.10 and 23.14, respectively, while senior Hannah Bowen took fourth in 23.56.
On the 3-meter board, the Irish boasted three of the top four spots, as Allison Casareto claimed first (359.75), Emma Gaboury took second (331.70) and Lindsey Streepey placed fourth (322.10). Casareto’s score was just under two points off her career-best mark (361.20 – 2013).
Notre Dame got off to a good start Friday night with a victory in the 200 free relay, as the foursome of Bowen, Suzanne Bessire, Galletti and Mulquin touched the pad in 1:32.49. The time was a season best for an Irish 200 free relay team.
Swimming against 2012 NCAA honorable mention All-American Becky Stoughton, freshman Molly Treble and senior Bridget Casey both turned in strong showings in the 500 free. After Stoughton touched the pad in 4:50.79, Treble claimed second in 4:54.68 and Casey placed third in 4:55.12.
Elsewhere on day one, sophomore Katie Miller took third in the 200 IM in 2:03.09 while junior Genevieve Bradford placed fourth in 2:05.00.
After day one, Notre Dame leads Incarnate Word, 91-17, and Iowa, 81-29.
The Missouri State men’s swimming and diving team is within reach of all three dual opponents as the Bears finished the first day of the Shamrock Invitational at Rolfs Aquatic Center on Friday, Jan. 30.
Through the first session of the Invite, the Bears trail 19th-ranked Iowa, 67-41, and host Notre Dame 64-44, while leading Incarnate Word 65-38.
The Bears earned valuable points in the 500 free, with Max Pratt swimming a personal-best 4:31.30 to finish runner-up in the event. Miguel Davila placed fourth in 4:32.67 and Caleb Schuermann finished in a season-best 4:34.34 for fifth to guide MSU to a solid start. Ethan Bresette also finished 10th (4:37.72) for the Bears and Canaan Campbell placed 11th in a season-best time of 4:41.43.
MSU had several performers among the top times in the 200 IM. Paul Le won the event in a time of 1:47.94 to lead the Bears. Uvis Kalnins placed fourth (1:51.00), Will Frisbie had a season-best time (1:52.59) in a sixth-place finish and Kacper Cwiek came in eighth (1:53.49).
Garrett Nevels led the MSU divers in 1-meter diving with 324.55 points for fourth place. Brody Arvesen placed 11th and Elijah Swaim 14th to round out the Bears’ lineup.
In the final event of the first session, the 400 medley ‘A’ relay team of Le, Kalnins, Vitalii Baryshok and Uvis Kalnins placed third in a time of 3:19.22. The ‘B’ relay team of Frisbie, Uldis Tazans, Matthew Wilson and Isaac McKnight placed sixth in a time of 3:25.63.
