Most swim teams used the extended winter break for some much-needed relaxation, but not the Irish men's and women's swim teams.
In holiday competition last Friday, the men's squad finished off a 12-day training trip in Mission Viejo, Calif., by picking up a pair of dual meet victories in a triangular meet against UC- Santa Barbara and Wyoming, 104-101 and 133-98, respectively.
The women swam to a first place finish in the Second Annual Puerto Rico Winter Training Meet in Encantada, Puerto Rico on Jan. 4.
After trailing UCSB by 21 points with only four events remaining, the Irish men (3-5) cut the Gauchos' lead to 2, 95-93, heading into the meet's final event, the 400-yard freestyle relay.
In a neck-and-neck race to decide the meet winner, Notre Dame senior co-captain Matt Obringer touched out UCSB freshman Pat Cary to secure victory for the Irish.
In addition to the 400-yard freestyle relay - Obringer, junior Frank Krakowski, sophomore Tim Randolph and freshman Louis Cavadini - freshman Ted Brown (500- and 1,000-yard freestyle), Krakowski (50-yard freestyle) and sophomore Doug Bauman (200-yard backstroke) chipped in with first place finishes.
"We were very happy with our performance because we were all swimming tired from our training," freshman Chris Zeches said. "We're ready to swim fast again this weekend in Pittsburgh."
The Irish next hit the water on Friday when they head to Pittsburgh to compete in a quadrangular meet against Villanova, Maryland and the host Pittsburgh.
The women's squad, on the other hand, recorded four meet records in coasting to a first place finish in Puerto Rico last week.
Opening the competition with a victory and meet record 2:05.38 in the 200-yard freestyle relay by seniors Danielle Hulick, Laurie Musgrave, Lisa Garcia and freshman Katie Carroll, the No. 21 Irish (4-1) never looked back, dominating a field that included St. John's, Yale, Montclair, Seton Hall, Brandeis, Syracuse, Georgetown and Skidmore, among others.
Carroll (50-yard freestyle), Musgrave (100-yard breaststroke) and freshman Ann Barton (200-yard backstroke) also turned in meet records for the Irish.
Notre Dame returns to the pool on Friday to challenge No. 16 Michigan and Illinois in Ann Arbor.
