After a close loss to Auburn on Saturday, the Irish return home to take on Purdue in the Rolfs Aquatic Center.
In the meet against Auburn, both teams won eight individual races, but Auburn managed to put enough people in the 2-5 spots to grab the lead. This week against Purdue, the Irish hope to fill those spots and claim the victory.
"We are definitely going to use the momentum we built up from some of the stand-out performances at Auburn going into the rest of our meet season," senior Kim Holden said. "We know to keep training hard and to use each meet as an opportunity to learn about what we're doing well and what needs work. Our meet this week against Purdue should be fun and very competitive."
The Boilermakers are coming off a victory in a five-team meet last weekend at the Indiana Intercollegiate. With the Irish and the Boilermakers both ranked, 18th and 19th respectively, the meet between the two schools should prove to be highly competitive.
Holden said a person to watch for in the meet is sophomore Bridget Casey.
"Bridget Casey never ceases to amaze me with how she handles her race," Holden said. "She usually has a very difficult line up, but races tough every time she steps up on the block."
Against Auburn, Casey claimed two second place finishes in the 1,000-yard freestyle and 200-yard butterfly, as well as a third place finish in the 500-freestyle.
Personally, Holden said she is satisfied with the individual victories she claimed against Purdue, she is still striving for faster times.
"I feel like I'm in a good place at this point in the season, but I will definitely be looking to see faster times as we move forward," Holden said.
Notre Dame will face the Purdue beginning Friday at 5 p.m.
Contact Katie Heit at kheit@nd.edu
