The Irish look to build momentum as the women's team takes on Denver, Ohio State and Northwestern in the Shamrock Invitational, one of its final meets before the Big East Championships.
"It'll be nice to get some confidence going into the Big East," senior Katie Casey said. "It'll give us a chance to do more events in a shorter amount of time, so we'll be tired, but if we race well everything will come from there."
The home meet will provide a welcome break from an exhausting traveling schedule.
"It's much nicer to have home meets because you are in your own pool and your schedule isn't disrupted as much," senior Samantha Maxwell said. "You can keep to your routine and don't have to worry about traveling. It's always awesome to have fans in the stands cheering for you."
The rematch with Northwestern gives the Irish an opportunity to avenge this month's earlier loss to the Wildcats. The Shamrock Invitational will also be one of the last home meets of the senior swimmers' careers.
"A lot of parents are coming in, and it's almost like a mini-parent's weekend for us. So it'll be great to have our parents in the stands and hopefully will create a better atmosphere," Casey said.
On the men's side, the Irish are coming off a narrow loss to Michigan State Saturday, 155.5-144.5. Notre Dame had six individual wins in the event, two of which can be attributed to the outstanding swimming of sophomore Bill Bass in the 200-yard fly and the 400 individual medley.
Freshman Frank Dyer won the 1,000-yard freestyle and was named the
Counsilman-Hunsaker National Collegiate Swimmer of the Week Wednesday, shortly after he was named Big East Swimmer of the Week.
The Shamrock Invitational will be the final event before the Big East Championships for the men, and the event should prove to be a launching point going into one of the biggest events of the year for the Irish.
The Shamrock Invitational runs Friday and Saturday all day at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.
