After finishing second to Louisville two years in a row, the Irish look for revenge as they head to Indianapolis to compete in the Big East championships. The meet begins today and will continue through Saturday.
Sophomore Emma Reaney said the Irish have a laundry list of goals they want to accomplish during the four days of competition.
"Some of them include taking everything in stride, being calm, cheering whenever we can and most of all, having fun," she said.
Notre Dame is also striving to restore a tradition of winning the Big East title. In 2011, Louisville topped the Irish to end Notre Dame's streak of 14 consecutive conference titles.
"[The Cardinals] are our archenemies of the swimming world and we are pretty evenly matched this year," Reaney said.
The competition begins with the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events, the 800-yard freestyle relay and the 200-yard medley relay. The rest of the week, the Irish will compete in preliminary races in the morning and the finals of each event at night.
Freshman Catherine Galletti, who will compete in her first Big East championship meet, said the Irish must remain focused to stay motivated throughout the lengthy competition.
"It's important to focus on one race at a time and remember that all of the hard work has been done," Galletti said. "Big East is a time to enjoy racing and cheering on your teammates."
Several Irish swimmers have multiple qualifying times or scores heading into the conference championships. Galletti will compete in the 50-yard freestyle with the third-best qualifying time in the Big East. She also earned qualifying marks in all four relays.
Reaney will compete in the most events and registered the top qualifying times in the Big East in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke and the 200- and 400-yard individual medley. She also earned the conference's third-best time in the 100-yard freestyle and the 100-yard butterfly. Reaney won the Big East title in the 100-yard breaststroke and the 200-yard individual medley last season.
Senior Kim Holden qualified in the 100- and 200-yard backstroke as well as the 100-yard butterfly. Junior Kelly Ryan holds the top time in the 200-yard backstroke and will enter postseason competition with the second-best time in the 100-yard backstroke and the 100-yard freestyle.
In diving, senior Jenny Chiang will be aiming for her fourth straight Big East title in the 3-meter dive. Other members of the Irish competing include sophomore Suzanne Bessire, senior Lauren Scott, junior Sarah Dotzel, sophomore Hannah Bowen and sophomore diver Allison Casareto.
The Irish begin competition in the Big East championships today at the IUPUI Natatorium in Indianapolis.
Contact Katie Heit at kheit@nd.edu
