The Irish women hit the pool for the third weekend in a row as they close out their home schedule at the Rolf's Aquatic Center in the annual Shamrock Invitational beginning at 5 p.m. on Friday. They host Towson, an undefeated squad from the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA), in the two-day dual meet.
The Tigers (10-0) enter the weekend following a dual meet victory against Delaware last weekend. Junior swimmer Kaitlin
Burke will pose a challenge for the Irish in freestyle events as she won the 100, 200, and 500-yard freestyle events in that meet, earning her CAA Swimmer of the Week. The Tigers also defeated one BIG EAST foe, Georgetown, in a dual meet in October.
Meanwhile, the Irish (3-4) dropped a close dual meet to Indiana last weekend, 175-125. The Irish claimed first in seven of the 16 events as sophomore Emma Reaney and senior diver Jenny Chiang earned a combined five wins. Chiang won both the 1 and 3-meter diving events, while Reaney took first in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke along with the 200-yard Individual Medley.
However, the Hoosiers swept the freestyle events and relay races, hindering the Irish's chances of victory. Yet, Reaney remained confident that the Irish need to focus on the little things in order to be in prime condition for the BIG EASST Championships next month.
"[Following the Indiana meet], we need to be more consistent in the water," Reaney said. "But we also need to focus on conserving energy out of the pool as we make our stretch run."
The Irish coaching staff also looks to gather additional information about its squad this weekend to help their swimmers improve for the conference championships. The Irish will don technical suits, from which data readings will be recorded.
"The technical suits will give us and our coaches a feel for turns, times in the pool, and strokes," Reaney said. "Also, it will give us more useful data, since our bodies will be tired after three weekend meets in a row."
Following the Shamrock Invitational, the Irish receive a one-week reprieve before a final tune-up meet at Toledo on February 9.
Then, the squad reconvenes in competition at the end of February for the BIG EAST Championships in Indianapolis.
Contact Matt Unger at munger3@nd.edu
