This weekend the Irish celebrate senior week, honoring the top members of the squad at their final home meet. Harvard and Towson will visit Rolfs Aquatic Center for the Shamrock Invitational, taking place the span of the day on both Friday and Saturday.
No. 20 Notre Dame comes off a 131-112 win at Cleveland State on Jan. 18, which marked its sixth win in dual meet competition. The undefeated squad demonstrated abilities deep in the roster, gathering points with wins across the board.
Senior Bill Bass, recently named Big East Athlete of the Week, took first in two individual races and one relay event against Cleveland State to lead the team. His 50.58 performance earned him first in the 100-yard butterfly while his 1:50.59 led him to the top in the 200-yard individual medley. His 22.13 butterfly in the 100-yard medley relay team competition also helped secure first.
This weekend provides another opportunity to improve before the season picks up.
"Practice this week has been pretty normal," senior Chris Johnson said. "We're still focused on Big East."
Harvard has a record comparable to that of the Irish, with a 4-0 dual meet record since November. They swim fairly consistently, with two 207-93 wins, one 192-108 and one 206-90 victory dating back to the fall. The Crimson come off a recent 206-90 win against Brown. In the meet, sophomore diver Mike Mosca led the day with two record-breaking performances. He scored 412.42 on the three-meter board and 273.45 on the one-meter. Four other members of the squad also won a pair of events in the meet.
"We do really want to beat Harvard but we think we can do it without changing our training too much," Johnson said.
Towson is 3-6, coming off a 220-78 loss to Delaware on Jan. 19. The team is 0-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association. The Tigers feature a young squad, compared to the Irish team stacked with upperclassmen. Freshman Matt McKenney's 50.93 finish in the 100-yard butterfly secured first place for him against Delaware, while his 1:52.59 brought first in the 200-yard butterfly. Sophomore Matt Collingwood fell just short of first in the 1,000-yard freestyle, taking second in the race with a time of 9:33.97.
"We are hoping there's a big turn out to see the competition and celebrate senior day," Johnson said.
The invitational will begin Friday in Rolfs Aquatic Center.
Contact Megan Finneran at mfinnera@nd.edu
