For its annual winter break training trip, Notre Dame spent time in San Juan, Puerto Rico for rigorous training. When the Irish returned, a loss to Louisville brought them back to reality.
In an open-air, 10-lane lap pool, the swimmers and divers trained twice a day, then lifted weights and did other dry-land workouts for all-around training.
"[The practices] brought our team closer because it was necessary to rely on each other to reach the level or training we desired," sophomore Pat Augustyn said.
To depart from the normal practices, they participated in an informal meet against both Southern Illinois University and LaSalle University while in Puerto Rico on a different part of the island.
On the way back to South Bend, the team made a stop at Louisville, currently ranked No. 16, for a conference meet, but a 178-117 Cardinal victory dropped the Irish conference record to 3-4.
"We saw to our potential, although we came up a little bit short in the end," Augustyn said.
In the 200-free, John Lytle (I:40.51) came in a close second, and Andrew Hoffman (1:43.51) came in fourth.
The 200-medley relay team, composed of Mitchell Sherman, Marshall Sherman, Patrick Augustyn and David Anderson, finished in third place (1:37.06), unable to keep up with two accomplished Cardinal backstrokers.
Irish swimmers Michael Sullivan and Bill Bauman finished first and second respectively in the 200-individual medley.
In the three-meter diving event, Caleb Dunnichay took first with 369.80 points, followed by Irish divers Eric Lex in second place and Wesley Villaflor in third.
The season picks up again on Jan. 16 for a home meet against Northwestern.
