Courtesy: Notre Dame Athletics
NOTRE DAME, Indiana — The University of Notre Dame Swim & Dive team returns to campus to embark on the spring portion of the 2020-21 schedule, which features two home meets and a road meet prior to the beginning of postseason competition.
The Irish will kick off the spring hosting ACC foe Louisville in the first home meet of 2021 on Saturday, January 9. The next week’s meet, previously scheduled at Cleveland State, has been cancelled, and will instead bring a time-trial opportunity for Notre Dame.
The Irish remain at home the next week to host the annual Shamrock Invitational. The men will take on Missouri State, while the women will face Akron. The Invitational perennially serves as Senior Day for Notre Dame, and, in addition, the Irish remember the lives of Colleen Hipp and Meghan Beeler, two Notre Dame swimmers who lost their lives in a team bus accident in 1992.
Notre Dame closes out the regular season with a dual meet at West Virginia in Morgantown from January 29-30.
From there, the Irish head into the postseason, with the ACC Championships in Greensboro, North Carolina, beginning with the women February 17-20 and continuing with the men February 24-27. The diving team will continue to the NCAA Zone C Diving Championships March 12-14 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The season concludes with the NCAA Championships back in Greensboro, with the women March 17-21 and the men March 24-27.
The Irish take on 2021 after a successful fall slate, in which they notched wins over Cincinnati and in the virtual meet over West Virginia. Against Cincinnati, Notre Dame placed first in 23 of 28 races, sweeping all four relay events. The individual wins were led by sophomore Jack Hoagland’s pool record in the 1000 Free (8:51.68). In total, the Irish posted 11 NCAA B-Cut qualifying times on the day.
In the meet vs. West Virginia, sophomore Coleen Gillilan notched a program record in the 100 Fly set a program record (52.07), topping her previous school record of 52.13 in 2019-20. In addition, Hoagland also posted a pool record in the 500 Free (4:16.87). In all, the Irish claimed the top finish in 32-of-34 events over the course of the meet, sweeping all the relay categories and the diving events.