Notre Dame took on three other teams this past weekend in the Shamrock Invitational at Rolfs Aquatic Center. The Irish (5-6) beat Missouri State, 218–150, and Incarnate World, 293–75, but fell by just 20 points to Big Ten foe Iowa, 195-175.
The 100-yard breaststroke was one highlight of a wildly entertaining day for the Irish, Tallman said. Hawkeye junior Roman Trussov out-touched senior Zachary Stephens, 54.4 to 54.94, to claim the top spot on the podium. Classmates Patrick Olson (third, 55.68) and Cameron Miller (fourth, 55.77) finished right behind Stephens. Junior Andrew Jensen finished 10th (58.56).
In the 200-yard breaststroke, Stephens was again out-touched by Trussov (1:59.35), with Miller and Olson switching places to finish third (2:04.26) and fourth (2:06.42), respectively.
In the 100-yard backstroke, junior Bogac Ahyan earned a podium finish, coming in third with a time of 50.17. Freshmen Rob Whitacre finished sixth (50.76), and Justin Plaschka finished 10th (51.86).
Freshmen took the top two spots for the Irish in the 100-yard freestyle. Plaschka touched the wall first (45.31) and classmate Joseph Krause claimed second (45.48). Freshman Richard Mannix finished 12th (46.67) while sophomore Trent Jackson finished 14th (46.78).
Senior John Nappi not only won the 1,650-yard freestyle but also broke the pool record with a time of 15:21.60. The 800-yard freestyle relay C-team lineup of seniors Kevin Hughes, Broderick Kelly, Patrick Murphy and junior Michael Hudspith also broke a pool record in their winning effort (6:35.03). The A-team was disqualified while the B-team finished sixth (6:55.17).
In diving, sophomore Joseph Coumos won the 3-meter event (377.50), and the Irish also claimed second, fourth and fifth. Sophomore James Lichtenstein set a new personal best with his 326.20 to finish ninth, and senior Michael Kreft finished tenth (317.65).
In the 200-yard butterfly, seniors Jonathan Williamson and Matthew DeBlasio and sophomores Kevin Bradley and Reed Fujan all earned top-12 finishes. Williamson swam to second place (1:50.07), Bradley touched sixth (1:54.43), Fujan finished 11th (1:56.82) and DeBlasio came in 12th (1:57.25).
Tallman said he was satisfied with his team’s effort, but he admitted the team still needs to improve for upcoming championship meets.
The ACC Championship meet is at Georgia Tech, while Iowa is going to host the NCAA championships after competing in the Big Ten Championship.
The Irish return to the pool Saturday when they host Cleveland State. The meet starts at 12 p.m. at Rolfs Aquatic Center.
