March 7, 2018
by Tony Jones
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – On the eve of the 2018 NCAA Division I Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships, the University of Notre Dame swimming and diving teams will be in prime scoring position during their respective national championship meets. A total of 13 Irish student-athletes have already punched their tickets to the NCAA Championships, which will be held from March 14-17 (women) in Columbus, Ohio, and March 21-24 (men) in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Four Notre Dame women’s swimmers have qualified for individual events at next week’s NCAA meet. Alice Treuth will race in both the 100 and 200 backstroke events, entering the meet ranked 26th nationally (1:52.88) in the 200 back and 53rd nationally (:52.84) in the 100 back. Abbie Dolan will compete in the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle for Notre Dame in the midst of a standout sophomore campaign. Dolan ranks 64th in the 50 free (:22.44), 30th in the 100 free (:48.36) and 44th in the 200 free (1:44.90) nationally this season. Carly Quast is a double entrant in both the 50 freestyle (:22.30) and the 100 backstroke (:52.27), ranking 43rd and 26th in the country in those events, respectively. Lindsay Stone rounds out the Irish individual qualifiers after setting the team record in both the 500 and 1650 freestyle earlier this season. Stone’s best 500 free time of 4:42.85 is 63rd nationally, while her 1650 free time of 16:07.66 is 26th in the country thus far this season.
On the relay ledger, Dolan will swim the 200, 400 and 800 freestyle relays alongside Quast and Lauren Heller. Sofia Revilak will take part in both the 200 and 400 free relays, with Skylar Fore in the 400 and 800 relay events and Kyra Sarazen rounding out the 800 free relay lineup.
Three Irish individual swimmers from the men’s side have qualified to take part in the national championship meet in two weeks in Minnesota. Zach Yeadon, the Notre Dame record holder in both the 500 and 1650 freestyle, will race in both events during his NCAA Championships debut. Yeadon is seventh in the country in the 500 free with a time of 4:12.74, and enters the championships third in the 1650 free with a top time of 14:34.60. Justin Plaschka carries his team record times in the 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly into NCAAs, ranking 22nd in the country in the 50 free (:19.30) and 10th in the 100 fly (:45.41) thus far this season. Rob Whitacre will swim both the 200 IM and 200 backstroke events in his final career NCAA Championships appearance, bringing the 33rd-fastest 200 IM time (1:44.06) and the 13th-fastest 200 back (1:40.17) in the country to Minneapolis.
Plaschka will also start for Notre Dame in the 200 and 400 freestyle relays, along with the 200 and 400 medley relay squads. Whitacre is due to compete with the 200 and 400 medley relay squads, with Daniel Speers joining Plaschka on the 200 and 400 free and 200 and 400 medley relay rosters. Tabahn Afrik is scheduled to race in both the 200 and 400 free relay events.
Notre Dame’s men’s and women’s divers have the chance to qualify for the NCAA Championships during Zone qualifying Thursday-Saturday in Columbus.
Notre Dame at the 2018 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships
WOMEN’S ENTRIES
Abbie Dolan: 50 freestyle, 100 freestyle, 200 freestyle, 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay
Skylar Fore: 400 free relay, 800 free relay
Lauren Heller: 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay
Carly Quast: 50 freestyle, 100 backstroke, 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 800 free relay
Sofia Revilak: 200 free relay, 400 free relay
Kyra Sarazen: 800 free relay
Lindsay Stone: 500 freestyle, 1650 freestyle
Alice Treuth: 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke
MEN’S ENTRIES
Tabahn Afrik: 200 free relay, 400 free relay
Justin Plaschka: 50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay, 200 free relay, 400 free relay
Daniel Speers: 200 free relay, 400 free relay, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay
Rob Whitacre: 200 backstroke, 200 IM, 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay
Zach Yeadon: 500 freestyle, 1650 freestyle
–ND–
Tony Jones, athletics communications assistant director at the University of Notre Dame, has been part of the Fighting Irish athletics communications team since 2012 and coordinates all media efforts for the Notre Dame softball, men’s soccer and swimming and diving programs. A native of Jamestown, New York, Jones is a 2011 graduate of St. Bonaventure University, and prior to arriving at Notre Dame held positions at the University of Louisiana Monroe and with the National Football League’s Buffalo Bills.