Notre Dame split a pair of dual meets Saturday as it defeated Oakland University 166-132, but fell to Michigan by a count of 172-120. The Irish move to 2-1 on the season.
The Irish received some key contributions from freshmen, as Frank Dyer came in second in the 200- and 500-meter freestyle and Joshua Choi came in second in the 200 breaststroke. Senior captain Michael Sullivan said freshmen contributions will be critical to the team's success.
"Seeing freshmen contribute is always exciting, especially as an upperclassman," he said. "Having been on the team for a few years, it is no secret that freshmen need to contribute in order to have a successful year."
Senior Eric Lex also stood out at the 1-meter and 3-meter boards at Saturday's meet. Lex was one of five Irish divers to finish in the top six in the 1-meter event by compiling 336.60 points. Sullivan said for the team as a whole to have success in meets, the squad needs solid contributions from the diving team.
"Eric and the other divers are guys that we love having on our team," Sullivan said. "They are awesome at what they do and make up some of the best divers not only in the Big East, but in the country. Having them on our side is awesome because you know they are going to consistently place high in every meet."
Sullivan himself came in second in the 200 backstroke and the 200 individual medley. He credited his strong performance to better preparation.
"In my events, I just focused on going out and swimming my own race from the start," Sullivan said. "With a hard week of training under my belt, I knew I was prepared and just had to do what I was used to."
Sullivan said that there are a lot of aspects of the meet that the team can build upon.
"As for our team, I think we did a good job of rebounding from a slower start to the meet," he said. "The first few events were tough, and Oakland and Michigan were pretty deep in them. But we made some improvements throughout the second half of the meet and ended up with some solid swims from a lot of different guys."
Notre Dame's next meet is on Nov. 6 at home against Purdue.
