Notre Dame opens its 2024-25 season at Rolfs Aquatic Center on Friday by hosting regional opponent Miami (OH).
The Redhawks finished second at the MAC Championships last season and had a 7-3 record. The losses were to major conference foes Northwestern and Cincinnati plus Akron.
Notre Dame returns its top swimmers from last season in Madelyn Christman and Maggie Graves. Both women made the NCAA Championships last year and were All-ACC First Team performers. Graves ranks second in school history in both the 1000 free (9:45.27) and 1650 free (16:10.82) after last season, while Christman ranks second in the 200 back and third in the 100 back (52.66) and 100 free (49.07).
It will be a bittersweet event on Friday for Irish junior Greta Kolbeck, who transferred to Notre Dame this year after two seasons at Miami. A two-time Miami Athlete of the Week and All-MAC First Team honoree, Kolbeck was the MAC champion in the 500 free last year with a time of 4:47.44.
Another Irish newcomer to watch is Hollie Widdows, who won both the 150 free and 100 IM at the Blue/Gold Meet two weeks ago and is a European junior champion from Tavistock, England.
The opener against Miami will begin on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m.