By John Blatchford
The Notre Dame women made it rain in terms of falling records tonight, but Louisville distanced themselves further from the field on the women’s side during day three of the BIG EAST championships from Louisville.
Notre Dame’s Kimberly Holden took down the 100 back record of 53.11 with a 52.99 and the ND relay team of Holden, Maxwell, Casey, and Ryan took down the 400 medley relay record from 2009 when it was still legal to wear the suits that must not be named.
Louisville was cool enough to be let into the record party though as Lorraine Thompson took down the BIG EAST 100 fly time of 53.32 with a 53.10.
For the meet, the UofL women have all but sealed it up to dethrone the Fighting Irish ladies, the first time they won’t take the title in the past 15 years. We still have one day left, but with a 90 point lead it seems as though UofL will celebrate their first women’s title as a member of the Big East.
I had the women’s 100y breast pegged to be one of the best of the weekend between rivals Therese Bergstrom of UofL and Samantha Maxwell of ND. Maxwell is the conference record holder and was the 2 time defending champ but it was Bergstrom’s swim and season really as she bested her old foe with a 1:00.15. The two hugged after the race.
A tight battle remains for third between West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Villanova, and Rutgers. Villanova was the biggest mover on the day as they jumped two places from seventh to fifth with strong top 10 swims from Lindsey Hagens, Astrid Armgarth, Erin Mallone, Laura McGlaughlin, and Natalie Elphick. First and second seem like a lock but there is still a good battle for places 2-7 as we move into day four.
The men’s meet remains a tight one with defending Big East champ Louisville holding on for dear life as 2008 and 2009 champ Notre Dame tries to track them down from second place. The two teams started the day separated by 20 points and even while fluctuating between events, the lead remains at 20 at the end of day three.
UofL’s De Lucca was out in the 200 free and even as he waned slightly in the last five meters, he was still able to set the BIG EAST record with a 1:35.07. Notre Dame won the points battle for the event though (48-43) led by freshman stud Frank Dyer coming in second (1:36.75).
Outside of the battle at the top, WVU and Pitt are in a struggle for third, Pitt had a strong day in the 100 backstroke from Maczewski (2nd ,47.50) and Dubiel (4th 48.43), while WVU had a really strong showing and victory in the 100 fly from Taylor Camp (47.47) and fifth place from Bradley Eichenseer (49.01) as well as a fifth place in the 100 breast from Richard Farquhar (54.56).
The next battle is for fifth overall between UConn and Seton Hall. UConn was bolstered today by a strong team performance and a third place 200 free swim from Karim Zayed (1:37.62). Seton Hall got a win from studmaster Kevin Webster in the 400 IM (3:46.03) who blew away the extremely talented field, beginning with an unreal 2nd wall in his backstroke leg. I thought Almeida (2nd 3:48.09) would track him down in the breast but Webster held his ground and then pulled away in the free. It’s still up in the air who will be swimmer of the year, we’ll have to get some more intel tomorrow but it may not end up being either of these pre-meet favorites.
Women - Team Rankings - Through Event 29
1. Louisville, University of 623.5
2. Notre Dame, University of 430.5
3. West Virginia University 277
4. Pittsburgh, University of 258.5
5. Villanova University 245.5
6. Rutgers University 213
7. Cincinnati, University of 212
8. Connecticut, University of 186
9. Georgetown University 84
10. Seton Hall University 76
11. Providence College 40
Men - Team Rankings - Through Event 30
1. Louisville, University of 591
2. Notre Dame, University of 570.5
3. Pittsburgh, University of 374
4. West Virginia University 357
5. Connecticut, University of 176.5
6. Seton Hall University 153
7. Cincinnati, University of 111
8. Georgetown University 94
9. Villanova University 85
10. Providence College 65
11. Syracuse University 13
