Coming off a huge day Wednesday, perhaps it was only natural for a letdown to occur on Thursday for the women's swimming and diving team. While the Irish won two individual events and finished second in the 200-yard free relay. They also fell out of first place, and now trail Louisville 332-302.
"I think we did pretty well, but not as well as we had hoped," sophomoreswimmer Emma Reaney said. "[There were a] few bumps in the morning swim, we were really trying to get as many people in to finals as possible, and we did the best we could with what we had. Honestly, it was probably our worst day specialty wise, but tomorrow should be a really good day for us."
Perhaps more than anything else, Reaney feels the team's problems are not in the pool, but in its head.
"Just being from Notre Dame, and the type of people Notre Dame attracts, the type-A personalities, the perfectionist I know I am, we get in our heads a lot," Reaney said. "We need to remember we do this everyday and not panic; I know we can be better."
Even though it was a tough day for the team, Reaney still saw a lot of positives.
"[Sophomore Bridget] Casey's 500-free was really awesome," Reaney said. "She started in 15th and moved up to 12th and was fighting the whole way. We're all really proud of her."
Perhaps Reaney is simply hard to please. Even after she won the 200-yard individual medley IM, Reaney still wasn't satisfied.
"I won and dropped a second [off my time] from this morning, but I'm still a second and a half off my best time," Reaney said. "It's disappointing, but I try not to dwell on it because I know I can get better at NCAAs."
Reaney has already qualified for the NCAAs in three events, the 100-yard and 200-yard breast and the 200-individual medley, but her proudest moment of the tournament occurred last night when she helped a senior earn her first Big East title.
"Last night I was really happy," Reaney said. "I dropped five seconds off my best time in the 200-freestyle, which really isn't my event so I was proud to help lead them to victory, especially for Jaime Malandra, who's a senior who has never won at Big East. So I'm really happy for that."
Despite the rough day in the pool Thursday, Reaney is still pleased with the team's overall performance.
"Personally I'm really proud of my team, I know we can really dominate in tomorrow's events," Reaney said. "Our confidence level is still pretty high even though were losing by a little, and then the last day is just give it all you got."
Reaney said she knows how to fix her squads' slump.
"We just have to make sure we roll with the punches," Reaney said. "Whether it's bad or good, don't dwell on it too long. That's something our coaches have been talking to us about, don't get caught up in anything."
Contact Alex Wilcox at awilcox1@nd.edu
