University of Notre Dame swimming head coach Mike Litzinger is very familiar with the DeSelm family. After all, he used to work with Rich DeSelm, the head men’s and women’s swimming and diving coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill before accepting the head coaching job with the Irish.
Perhaps the pre-existing familiarity is what led Rich’s daughter Claire, a senior at Chapel Hill High School, to choose the University of Notre Dame for the next four years of her career.
“I am incredibly excited to join the team at the University of Notre Dame, “DeSelm exclaimed. “I cannot wait to be able to study at this diverse institution, and swim under Coach Litzinger and Coach Woo, alongside their motivated and inspiring team at Notre Dame. I am so excited to learn and grow, and do my best to contribute to the swim program and the school. I have known Coach Mike since he came to UNC, and am so excited to be able to swim under a coach I already trust – and one that has proven to be an exceptional 200 fly coach.”
“Claire is a terrific fit for Notre Dame,” said Litzinger. “She will make the most of her experience as a student, an athlete, and as a vital part of our University community. Claire brings a blue-collar work ethic to the pool, and will be an outstanding teammate. I am looking forward to working with her and the rest of our incoming athletes in helping the Irish swimming program build a great future.”
DeSelm, born in Charlotte but raised in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, is a five-time North Carolina state champion who can lay claim to several prestigious accomplishments in and out of the pool to date. She joins Reilly Lanigan and Erin Sheehan as incoming IM-ers for the Irish, and will add class depth alongside Katie Rentz, Sheehan and fellow North Carolinian Carolyn Kammeyer in the 100 and 200 fly events.
