After a strong showing in a close meet against Purdue last week, senior captain Kim Holden will be one of the swimmers looking to lead the Irish to a victory against Pittsburgh on Friday and Louisville on Saturday.
Holden won Big East Athlete of the Week for swimming and diving after earning the top spot in three individual events in a 152-148 loss to Purdue on Nov. 2. In her events, Holden ranks in the top 20 in the nation and is ranked first in the 100-yard and 200-yard back in the Big East. The Irish will be looking to Holden to earn big points against two conference opponents this weekend.
Holden said the Irish are fired up after the close loss to Purdue and are ready to take on Pittsburgh.
"We are definitely going into Pittsburgh with the mentality that every swim and every place counts," Holden said. "We're feeling confident, but know that anything can happen in a meet. That just means racing tough and smart."
The last time the Irish faced off against Pittsburgh and Louisville was during the Big East Championship on Feb. 18, where the Irish placed second behind c
A year ago, Louisville defeated the Irish 188-112 in Louisville. A high point of the meet was then-freshman Emma Reaney, who won three individual events and was part of the winning 400-yard free relay team. Reaney went on to win the 100-yard breast and the 400-yard IM against Purdue.
Holden said there is definitely an advantage to having both Big East teams head in to compete in Notre Dame's home pool.
"We know the blocks, flags and overall set up, which is something every team must adjust to when they are competing at a new pool," Holden said. "Being at home also gives us the advantage of having support in the stands. The energy definitely makes a difference."
Holden said there was a lot of disappointment after the loss against Purdue but head coach Brian Barnes refocused the team during practice throughout the week.
"We met as a team after our meet against Purdue on Friday," Holden said. "Brian encouraged us to leave our frustration at the pool. We recognized that there were a lot of positive things going on and that it wouldn't help us to linger on a loss for too long."
Holden said the training throughout the week served to give the Irish a new confidence heading into both duel meets this weekend.
"We've got in the hard work and revisited some of the detail work that we saw we could use improvement," Holden said.
The Irish will take on Pittsburgh on Friday at 5 p.m. and Louisville on Sunday at 1 p.m. in Rolfs Aquatic Center.
Contact Katie Heit at kheit@nd.edu
hampion Louisville.
