Jan. 11, 2011
NOTRE DAME, Ind. – On the heels of a two-week winter training trip in Puerto Rico, the Notre Dame men’s swimming and diving team will face Northwestern at 5:00 p.m. (CT) on Wednesday at the Norris Aquatics Center.
Last year against the Fighting Irish (3-2), the Wildcats recorded eight season-best swims to post a 157.5-139.5 win. The Wildcats also own an 18-7 advantage in the series between the two teams.
Notre Dame will travel to Cleveland State for a 2:00 p.m. (ET) dual meet on Friday. During the opening home meet of the 2009-10 campaign, the Irish defeated the Vikings, 178-122, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of competition at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.
“We’re looking forward to these two meets not only to because it’s a chance to race against a pair of great opponents, but to help us gauge where we are as a team before heading into the championship portion of the schedule,” Irish head coach Tim Welsh said.
While its last official competition on the mainland came at Iowa’s Hawkeye Invitational (Dec. 3-5), Notre Dame took a break from its winter training session in San Juan, Puerto Rico, to race in the Copa Coqui Cup. The long-course meters meet saw the Irish finish first among the eight-team field in the men’s division with 84 points in an unconventionally formatted contest.
Petar Petrovic was named the meet’s MVP after touching in at 1:00.97 in the 100m back for gold honors. Thomas VanVolkenburg (53.99) won the 100m free and Colin Babcock took the top spot in the 200m IM with a 2:13.10 performance.
Notre Dame finished first (4:10.40) and second (4:20.87) in the 500m free relay.
–ND–