Notre Dame entered Wednesday's Big East Championships at Trees Pool in Pittsburgh with hopes of carrying on the top finishes by freshman diver Nick Nemetz, and the Irish did not disappoint. They currently lead the finals with 197 points, followed by Pittsburgh with 132 points.
Defending-champion Lousiville is tied with West Virginia for third with 110 points.
"We're in a better position than we were last year," junior Chris Johnson. "We are riding the momentum of two school records into tomorrow."
In Wednesday's two races, the Irish racked up new school records in two relay events. The team of sophomores Frankie Dyer and Colin Babcock and juniors Kevin Overholt and John McGinley beat the previous school record of 6:27.19 from a 2009 meet in Indianapolis, coming in second at 6:24.11 behind Louisville in the 800-yard freestyle relay.
In the 200-yard medley relay, sophomore Bertie Nel, freshman Cameron Miller, Johnson and junior Bill Bass surpassed last year's Big East conference record of 1:28.86.
They touched the wall at 1:28.73 to take third place behind Louisville and Pittsburgh.
With only a small portion of the championships underway, the Irish continue to look forward.
"Tomorrow the rest of the guys get their first chance to compete. It's important for us to come out swinging, and I know we can do that," Johnson said.
Competition kicks off today at 10 a.m. with the 500-yard freestyle.
Contact Megan Finneran at mfinnera@nd.edu
