The No. 22 Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are set to host their sixth and final home meet of the regular season this Saturday at Rolfs Aquatic Center. In last week’s Shamrock Invitational, the Irish swept the board against ranked opponents, including Ohio State and Wisconsin, setting nine Rolfs Aquatic Center records. Irish head coach Mike Litzinger hopes to continue that dominance this weekend against Ball State and Green Bay, while also focusing more on getting more from his team.
“We will be swimming in a different event order, and our athletes will not be competing in a full schedule. We’re picking one or two events to focus on, and allow the depth of our team to make the difference,” Litzinger said in an email.
The No. 24 women and No. 20 men are currently enjoying a long winning streak, having not lost since Nov. 19 at the Ohio State Invitational in Columbus, Ohio.
Litzinger said the approaching ACC championship has changed the strategy for the team going forward.
“We will be splitting the squad next week. We have to declare 18 swimmers and three divers ... those not attending the ACC meet will focus on Ohio State [next weekend]. It is a fast meet, and we had a lot of success there last season.”
The Irish have also been succeeding outside the pool as well. Both the men’s and women’s squads were recently named scholar All-Americans of the College Swimming and Diving Coaches Association of America for the fall semester. This marks the fifth-consecutive semester earning this honor, all under Litzinger’s tenure.
“This honor speaks to the duality of Notre Dame — high level academics and athletics. I am extremely proud of how our group takes on that responsibilities, they deserve the honor,” he said.
The meet begins at 1 p.m. at Rolfs Aquatic Center. Notre Dame will then travel to Greensboro, North Carolina for the ACC championships which begins Feb. 14 and continues through Feb. 24.
