Bottelberghe Sets Two School Records, Irish Finish 4th at OSU Invite

Final Results (PDF)

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Notre Dame swimming and diving team had a strong showing in their final meet of the fall semester. The men’s and 21st-ranked women’s team both finished fourth out of 10 teams at the Ohio State Invitational in Columbus.

Senior captain Josh Bottelberghe had an incredible weekend as he set two school records in the 100 and 200 breaststroke. Bottelberghe started on Friday morning by breaking the record in the 100 breast (52.00) with the second-fastest time in the prelims. Then later that evening he beat his record with a time of 51.88, good for an NCAA B Cut and second-place finish in the A final.

The very next day, Bottelberghe broke his previous school record in the 200 breaststroke during the finals. He finished with an NCAA B Cut time of 1:52.44 and finished in first in the A final. It was his second win of the weekend as he claimed first in the 50 free Thursday night with a personal best time of 20.16.

On the women’s side, senior Luciana Thomas led the way with three B Cut times for the meet. Her best finish came in the 200 fly when she finished third in the A final with a time of 1:56.30. Her other two NCAA B cut times came in the 500 free A Final (4:45.60) and 400 IM (4:12.03).

In the diving well, Kelly Straub and Calie Brady led the way for the Irish. Straub made the finals in the 3-meter and 1-meter diving events while also finishing in the Top-5 in platform diving. Her highest finish of the weekend came in the 3-meter diving, when she finished third with a finals score of 299.65. In the platform diving event, Straub finished fourth with a finals score of 247.00. In the 3-meter diving finals, she placed seventh with a score of 324.20. Brady finished one spot ahead of Straub, finishing sixth in the 3-meter event with a 332.30, her highest score in the event so far this season. On the men’s side, David Petrison was the highest finisher on the weekend. He placed 14th in platform diving with a score of 300.55. Petrison’s score qualified him for the NCAA zone meet for the platform event.

Freshman Chris Guiliano also matched Thomas’ mark with three B Cut times. His best finish of the meet came in the 100 free when he finished fifth in the A final with a 42.99, the fifth-fastest time in program history. He also finished fifth in the 200 free A final with a time of 1:35.95. His final B cut time came in the 50 free A final. He swam a 19.62, good for the fourth-best time in school history.

A number of Irish picked up multiple NCAA B Cut times in the meet including Tyler Christianson (200 and 400 IM), Coleen Gillilan (100 fly and 200 IM), Sean Faikish (200 breast and 400 IM), Megan Deuel (100 and 200 fly), Cason Wilburn (100 fly and 100 free) and Ellie Jew (100 and 200 breast). Liam Hutchinson (500 free), Ana Herceg (200 free), Elizabeth Fry (100 breast), Madelyn Christman (100 back), Maggie Graves (1650 free), Josh Brown (1650 free), Hugo Thomas (1650 free), Max Miranda (200 fly) and Zach Smith (200 fly) also picked up B Cut times during the meet.

Junior Cason Wilburn’s time in the 100 fly prelims (46.44) was the fourth-best in program history. Freshman Ana Herceg posted the seventh-best time in program history in the 200 free prelims (1:46.83). Fellow freshman Madelyn Christman finished third in the 100 back A Final with a time of 52.74, third-best in program history. Maggie Graves posted a time of 16:23.78 in the 1650 free, the fourth-best in school history. Sydney Whiting placed first in the B final of the 100 free with a B Cut time of 49.40, good for eighth-best in program history.

UP NEXT

The Irish are finished with the fall semester portion of their schedule. They will be back in action after the holiday break on Jan. 14-15 for a meet at Princeton against Princeton and Navy.

—ND—