Despite strong performances from diving duo junior Jenny Chiang and freshman Allison Casareto and standout sophomore swimmer Lauren Stauder, the Irish came up on the short end of a meet with Purdue on Friday night. The Irish (3-2) fell 168-131 to the Boilermakers (3-0) in West Lafayette, Ind. as Notre Dame earned victories in only six of the 16 events.
"We need to capitalize on opportunities to win events," Irish coach Brian Barnes said. "It was a winnable meet, and we need to realize that every member of the team counts in dual meets."
On the diving side of the team, the Irish proved dominant, with Chiang and Casareto finishing first and second in both the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events. Chiang earned first on the 1-meter with 308.93 points while Casareto placed second. In the 3-meter, their places flipped, with Casareto scoring 296.03 points, just barely ahead of Chiang's score of 292.13.
"[Casareto and Chiang] both competed very well on Friday night, as they have all season," Barnes said.
However, the Boilermakers would proceed to win 10 of the 14 race and relay events.
Purdue freestyle swimmer and senior Lauren Roth proved to be a difference maker, winning both the 200-yard and 1,000-yard freestyle. In the latter event, Roth earned a come-from-behind victory as she initially trailed Irish freshman Bridget Casey but ultimately took first with a time of 10:06.64, beating Casey by more than six seconds.
The Irish also suffered a tough defeat in the 200-yard medley relay, losing to the Boilermakers by a mere 0.23 seconds. The team of Stauder, sophomore Sarah Dotzel, freshman Hannah Bowen and junior Lauren Scott held the lead for the first two events of the relay but fell behind in the breaststroke, and Bowen could not close the gap on the freestyle.
The Irish did manage a victory in the 200-yard breaststroke though, as Stauder swam past sophomore opponent Emily Fogle in the final lap and finished with an NCAA B-cut time of 2:15.58.
Young swimmers continued to be bright spots for the Irish, as Casey won her third 200-yard fly event of the season, while freshman Emma Reaney dominated the 200-yard Individual Medley, winning by more than four seconds in 2:03.43. Finally, sophomore Kelly Ryan placed first in the 200-yard backstroke, finishing ahead of junior teammate Gracie Fredlake by just over one second.
The Irish conclude their stretch of three straight road dual meets Saturday when they face Big East rival Louisville at 1 p.m.
Contact Matt Unger at munger3@nd.edu
