Jan. 17, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format, including updated top times list and complete schedule with results.
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Notre Dame vs. Oakland
Saturday, Jan. 19, 2002
Rolfs Aquatic Center
Irish return to dual meet schedule after traditional holiday training trip to Florida:
The University of Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team returns to dual meet action this weekend (Saturday, Jan. 19, 2 p.m.) against Oakland University in the Rolfs Aquatic Center on Notre Dame’s campus. This will be the ninth meeting between the two teams with the series tied at 4-4. Oakland won the meet last season, edging the Irish 134.5 – 106.5, but the Irish were able to out-point the Golden Grizzlies in the Notre Dame Invitational earlier this season. Oakland was bolstered by its sprint freestyle group in last season’s dual meet, which swept the top three spots in both the 50 and 100 free.
The Irish are coming off two dual meet victories on Friday, Jan. 11, in Plantation, Fla., to cap off their training trip to the Sunshine State. Notre Dame defeated Xavier 100-78 and Maine 104-74 by placing first in all 10 events of the competition.
A number of Irish swimmers won two events in the meet, including David Horak (100 back and 200 medley relay), Jason Fitzpatrick (100 breast and 200 medley relay) and Andrew Pittman (50 freestyle and 200 medley relay).
Looking back at the first part of the 2001-02 season:
Notre Dame enters the second part of its season with a 8-3 dual meet record and a team victory in the Notre Dame Invitational. The Irish season started strong in the Notre Dame Relays, for even though Pittsburgh (respected as one of the fastest teams in the BIG EAST Conference) won the meet, Notre Dame raced side-by-side with the Panthers in many of the events.
The Irish dispatched Kalamazoo in their first dual meet of the season (137-104), led by double-event winner J.R. Teddy (500 free and 200 fly) and two rookie winners in Frank Krakowski (100 free) and Dean Wolf (200 back). Notre Dame climbed on the bus two weeks later for a weekend of competition in Washington, DC. In addition to enjoying a tour of our nation’s capital, the Irish added two more dual meet victories on consecutive days over George Washington and American. The George Washington victory was highlighted by the Irish diving group (Andy Maggio, Joe Miller and Tong Xie), which swept the top three spots in both the one- and three-meter events.
Krakowski continued to shine in the win at American, taking away victories on the 200 medley relay team, the 50 freestyle and the 100 butterfly. The Irish rookie ended up playing a part in 29 of the team’s 174 points in the meet.
Notre Dame then moved on to the daunting task of taking on perennial NCAA Championship contender Tennessee at home on the Friday before the Fighting Irish – Volunteer football matchup. All the swimmers, divers and fans enjoyed the unique meet, which featured some unusual events (underwater butterfly kick relay, synchronized diving, etc.). Notre Dame eventually suffered its first dual meet loss of the season to Tennessee 134.5 – 81.5.
After a week of preparation, Notre Dame headed east yet again to take on BIG EAST opponents Rutgers and Connecticut in Storrs, Conn. The Irish were able to defeat the host team, but dropped their second dual meet of the season to Rutgers 139-160. Senior co-captain Jonathan Pierce utilized the event to establish himself as the distance freestyle specialist to beat at the 2002 BIG EAST Championship. Pierce earned three different individual titles vs. Rutgers and UConn (1,000 free, 500 free and 200 IM), while senior David Horak posted three top-five finishes in the 100 back, 200 back and 100 fly. The traditional Western Ontario meet followed, and Notre Dame improved to 5-2 on the season with a 136-64 victory.
The Irish returned to the pool the next day to face a talented TCU team, eventually losing a hard-fought meet 137-163. The Irish were led by Pierce, who won both the 1,000 freestyle and the 400 individual medley. Pierce’s winning time of 9:25.83 in the 1,000 freestyle was 16 seconds faster than his next closest competitor.
Krakowski continued his great fall against the Horned Frogs by winning the 50 freestyle in 21.34 and the 100 butterfly in 51.33.
Following two weeks of training, the Irish entered the signature event for the fall portion of the season – the Notre Dame Invitational.
Tim Welsh coordinated a solid team effort from every Irish swimmer during the three day event – which Notre Dame eventually won with 2,203 points.
During the ND Invite, Krakowski set a new varsity record in the 100 fly (49.45) and David Horak set a school mark in the 100 back (50.78).
BIG EAST Championship field starting to take shape:
As the Irish enter the second half of the 2001-02 schedule, a bevy of Notre Dame swimmers and divers have qualified for the 2002 BIG EAST Championship meet. A number of those Irish swimmers have posted times ranked among the best in the conference.
Here is a breakdown of where the Irish rank in the BIG EAST top times list:
50 freestyle
12. Frank Krakowski, 21.19
22. Dean Wolf, 21.47
100 freestyle
8. Frank Krakowski, 46.27
18. Matt Obringer, 46.84
20. Drew Pittman, 46.96
24. Austin Anderson, 47.11
200 freestyle
11. Matt Obringer, 1:41.75
12. Austin Anderson, 1:42.15
17. J.R. Teddy, 1:42.59
25. Matt Bertke, 1:43.47
500 freestyle
4. Jonathan Pierce, 4:32.99
6. Matt Bertke, 4:33.60
7. J.R. Teddy, 4:34.47
8. Matt Obringer, 4:34.56
1000 freestyle
2. Jonathan Pierce, 9:25.83
4. J.R. Teddy, 9:35.71
5. Matt Bertke, 9:36.07
12. Michael Flanagan, 9:49.48
20. Lucas Wymore, 9:59.06
20. Elliott Drury, 9:59.06
1650 freestyle
3. Jonathan Pierce, 15:47.12
4. Matt Bertke, 15:54.47
6. J. R. Teddy, 16:02.60
9. Elliott Drury, 16:09.55
19. Michael Flanagan, 16:26.96
20. Lucas Wymore, 16:28.41
100 backstroke
3. David Horak, 50.78
8. Dean Wolf, 51.84
15. Jason Colettis, 52.56
24. Matt Hyde, 53.71
200 backstroke
5. David Horak, 1:51.90
6. Dean Wolf, 1:52.43
13. Jason Colettis, 1:53.93
14. John Hudson, 1:53.98
100 breaststroke
2. Jason Fitzpatrick, 56.24
6. Mike Koss, 57.22
20. Josh Dermott, 59.50
24. David Moisan, 59.97
200 breaststroke
2. Jason Fitzpatrick, 2:04.60
10. David Moisan, 2:07.94
11. Mike Koss, 2:08.06
17. Josh Dermott, 2:09.57
100 butterfly
4. Frank Krakowski, 49.45
8. David Horak, 49.97
200 butterfly
12. J.R. Teddy, 1:53.67
16. Lucas Wymore, 1:54.71
22. Brian Coughlan, 1:55.98
200 Individual Medley
9. David Moisan, 1:54.26
15. Jonathan Pierce, 1:55.09
17. Josh Dermott, 1:55.14
400 Individual Medley
6. Jonathan Pierce, 4:03.80
7. David Moisan, 4:04.28
13. Michael Flanagan, 4:10.06
25. Elliott Drury, 4:15.72
One-meter diving
9. Andy Maggio, 271.40
15. Joe Miller, 231.95
19. Tong Xie, 194.85
Three-meter diving
11. Joe Miller, 278.30
14. Andy Maggio, 255.35
17. Tong Xie, 222.15