MADISON, Wisc. — The 2023-24 Notre Dame swimming and diving season will get underway on Friday, as the Irish head to Wisconsin to face the Badgers. The teams last saw each other in 2015, and Wisconsin won on both the men’s and women’s sides.
Men’s Preview —
Notre Dame is coming off of its best season in program history. The Irish finished 18th at NCAAs with the help of two returners — junior Chris Guiliano and sophomore Tommy Janton.
Guiliano is fresh off of an appearance at the 2023 World Championships in Japan where he swam the 100 freestyle and earned two relay medals for Team USA. He was an ACC champion in the 200 freestyle last year, and he earned All-America status in the 100 and 200 freestyle. Janton, the 2023 ACC Freshman of the Year, broke both backstroke school records as a rookie and earned Honorable All-America status. He won both the 100 and 150 backstroke events at the Blue/Gold/Green Intrasquad Meet, and he took second in the 150 butterfly and 150 freestyle.
The Irish brought in several newcomers this offseason, including former Louisville national champion Abdelrahman El-Araby. The sprinter from Egypt won all three individual events he swam at the Intrasquad Meet last weekend — 50 and 100 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Sprinters Luka Cvetko (a Division II NCAA finalist), Tanner Filion (a Division III record holder in the 200 backstroke) and Liam McDonnell (a Division III NCAA runner-up) are also graduate transfers who significantly bolster Notre Dame’s relay presence.
While unofficial, the Irish checked in at No. 14 in the 2023-24 SwimSwam News Preseason Power Rankings.
Wisconsin returns several male swimmers that rank in the top 10 in school history in various events. Senior Jake Newmark is the school record holder in the 200 and 500 freestyle and will present a challenge for Guiliano. Taiko Torepe-Ormsby had a standout rookie year, and now-sophomore Dominik Mark Torok was a member of the 2023 All-Big Ten First Team. The Badgers finished last season ranked No. 20 in the nation by CSCAA, two spots behind Notre Dame.
Women’s Preview —
The Irish women took eighth at ACCs last year and return two of four NCAA qualifiers; Ellie Jew is back for a fifth year and poised to be Notre Dame’s top breaststroker once again. She won both the 100 and 150 at last weekend’s Intrasquad Meet. Diver Calie Brady is now a junior and looking to make the nation’s top collegiate meet for a third time.
Notre Dame added four freshmen and a graduate transfer on the women’s side. Megan Glass, who spent her first four years of college swimming at Michigan, brings a mid-distance freestyle presence to the team. She won the 150 freestyle last weekend.
Wisconsin has Olympian Phoebe Bacon back for her senior year as well as All-American Paige McKenna and reigning Big Ten 500 freestyle champion Abby Carlson. The group placed fourth at Big Ten Championships last year and sent 10 women to NCAAs. Wisconsin finished the season ranked No. 23 by CSCAA.
Friday’s meet begins at 3:30 p.m., and live results can be found here.