After a week off, Notre Dame returns to action this weekend at the Boilermaker Invitational, a three-day event that will take place Friday through Sunday. The meet will be hosted on the campus of Purdue at the Boilermaker Aquatic Center in West Lafayette, Indiana.
In their last event, the Irish participated in a two-day triple-dual meet against Pittsburgh and Virginia Tech in Christianburg, Virginia.
In the triple-dual meet, the Irish fell to the Hokies, 208-162, and were defeated by the Panthers, 188-182.
“The team is constantly learning,” Irish head coach Michael Litzinger said. “This meet was a great experience as we had performances that were some of the best of the season, and we let some things slip away. The group fought to bring the meet back to within one point heading into the final relay. We just couldn't quite finish it off.”
Against Virginia Tech and Pittsburgh, the Irish were led by freshman Kyra Sarazen, who took third in the 200-yard individual medley and fourth in the 100-yard back, and Ella Moynihan, who placed in fourth in the 500-yard freestyle and second in the 200-yard freestyle. In diving, the Irish were led throughout the weekend by senior divers Lindsey Streepey and Emma Garboury.
“I was particularly impressed with Kyra Sarazen,” Litzinger said. “She took some coaching points to heart, was very aggressive in her races from the start, and the result ended in three season best performances. I also would like to point to [Irish diving coach] Caiming Xie's divers, as they faced some of the toughest competition in the ACC as both [Pittsburgh] and [Virginia Tech] are traditionally strong diving schools.”
Heading into this weekend’s meet, Litzinger took note of what the Irish have worked on since their triple-dual meet.
“I think it is important for us to stress details,” said Litzinger. “We train well, are fit, but now we need to sharpen skills like relay takeoffs, turns and continue to work on race strategy.”
The Boilermaker Invitational will begin Friday morning at 10 a.m. and continue through Sunday in West Lafayette, Indiana. This meet will be Notre Dame’s last in the 2015 calendar year.
