EVANSTON, Ill. — Notre Dame swimming and diving concluded a pair of fall break meets on Friday, falling at Northwestern, 180-20 on the women's side and 186-114 on the men's side. The Irish won 12 events — six on each side — including a 19.42 50 freestyle from Shane Eckler, a new Norris Aquatics Center record.
Starting on the women's side, the Irish began strong with a 400 medley relay victory. The winning team was composed of Emily Hamill, Gracyn Lanning, Carli Cronk and Hollie Widdows and finished with a time of 3:34.73.
Up next, sophomore Becky Rentz earned her first dual meet victory of the year, winning the 200 free with a time of 1:47.39. Cronk, a junior team captain and an individual All-American last season in the 200 fly, won the event with a time of 1:57.23.
Hollie Widdows continued her winning ways on Friday, as the junior won both the 50 and 100 free (22.55/49.11). She has now won four of her seven individual events this season.
Another junior captain, Emily Kitayama closed out the individual wins for the women with a 200 IM first-place finish in a time of 2:02.80. It was the first dual meet win of her Irish career.
Turning to the men's side, freshman James Darcy rewrote the record books once again on Friday, winning the 1650 free in a time of 15:14.37, which ranks eighth in program history. Darcy moved into third all-time in the 1000 free against Louisville on Friday, too.
The men's side saw a pair of double winners in Eckler and Patrick Branon. In addition to his pool-record 19.42 winning 50 free, Eckler won the 100 free with a time of 42.79. Branon joined him in the win column in both the 200 fly (1:45.50) and 500 free (4:23.30).
Like Widdows, Eckler has now won four of his seven individual events this season.
All-American Daniel Knapp rounded out the Irish victories with a first-place finish in the 1-meter (335.85). The reigning ACC Diver of the Week also finished second in the 3-meter with a score of 390.30, just 0.80 points from the top score. He was a double winner against Louisville on Thursday as well.
Up next, Notre Dame takes a break from the NCAA meet circuit, as select student-athletes head to the 2026 USA Short Course World Championship Trials in Westmont, Ill. The meet runs from Oct. 28-31, and additional meet information can be found here.