Here Come the Irish: The Rise of Notre Dame Swimming

On the morning of Wednesday, June 19, 2024, a crowd of swimmers past and present from the University of Notre Dame filed into Lucas Oil Stadium. Dressed in Irish green, the group ended up taking over three suites at the starting block end of the stands. They were all there for one purpose: to cheer on Notre Dame athletes at the 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials.

That morning, it was for a pair of rising juniors – Tommy Janton and Marcus Gentry – competing in the preliminary heats of the 200 backstroke. At night, it was for last summer’s breakout star Chris Guiliano, who continued his meteoric rise by winning the 100 freestyle.

Amongst a crowd of 22,209, a world record for attendance at a swim meet, the passion of the 70-strong section turned heads. Flags were waved, cowbells were rung, and every single person was on their feet.

It was enough to be noticed by on-deck commentator Brendan Hansen after the medal ceremony, prompting Guiliano to shout out the “Green Monster” in the stands.

The Chris Guiliano section, with who I assume are his parents sharing emotion after he wins the 100 free. pic.twitter.com/Dpg81S7ixE

— Braden Keith (@Braden_Keith) June 20, 2024

By the end of his meet, Guiliano had become the first American man since Matt Biondi to qualify individually in the 50, 100, and 200 freestyle for a single Olympics, and Notre Dame’s first male athlete named to a U.S. Olympic Team for swimming.

Beyond Guiliano, the Notre Dame Swimming and Diving program has been riding a wave of momentum since head coach Chris Lindauer took over in 2022, and it’s been thanks to the passion of the student athletes and alumni.

It wasn’t an accident that generations of the Fighting Irish descended upon Indianapolis at the same time. This was planned as far back as the 2024 Men’s NCAA Championships back in March, where the men’s team recorded 10th place team finish, their highest in program history.

“We had a big bunch of green in the [IUPUI] Natatorium down the street,” said Karl Peterson (‘92), who helped to organize the box on Wednesday night. “And we all said, well, why not do that here?”

Peterson and his family have been instrumental to this new chapter of Notre Dame swimming. Thanks to their generosity, the head coach position was endowed in 2022, providing stability and funding for the program.

“My old ND swim coach, [Tim Welsh], would always say that our mission was to pursue athletic and academic excellence with self-discipline and love for one another,” said Peterson. “That is what we are seeing here this week.”

This kind of community involvement extends beyond the sport’s biggest stage. Alumni will often stop in at practices throughout the season, according to Tommy Janton.

“Sometimes we’ll come in and there’ll be people there just to say hi [and see] how we’re doing, because they’re all excited,” said Janton. “I think the latest we’ve had back is probably [from] the late seventies.”

Tommy Janton (left) and Tanner Filion (right) (photo: Jack Spitser)

Janton made two finals at these Trials, finishing 8th in the 100 back and 4th in the 200 back, and is hungry for more. But at the root of it, it’s about having fun with the rest of the team.

From Cason Wilburn’s perspective, who recently graduated after five years at Notre Dame, the new coaching staff has been the driving force behind Notre Dame’s recent success.

“I did the math, and I’ve had 15 or 16 different coaches in my five years here,” said Wilburn. “And then when the new coaching staff came in, they brought this new energy. We make meets fun. We have goals we want to meet, but along the way, it was all about having fun during that journey.”

That environment is what brought Tanner Filion to Notre Dame, who decided to take his Covid fifth-year in South Bend after spending four years at Division 3 Whitman College. He holds the D3 NCAA records in the 100 and 200 backstroke. This was his first season training long course, and he pulled off a 15th place finish in the 100 back at this meet.

“That’s really what ultimately drew me to Notre Dame,” said Filion. “It’s the alumni. The love of Notre Dame is so unique. Our swim meets are always packed back home. It’s something special in South Bend that I haven’t really found anywhere else.”

While Wilburn and Filion have officially joined the ranks of the alumni, the rest of the eight athlete contingent at Trials – including Sean Faikish, Lucas Logue, and Maggie Graves – returns to South Bend in the fall with goals to grow the “Green Monster” to greater heights.

No matter the Olympic medals or NCAA finishes in Notre Dame’s future, there will certainly be a sea of green in the stands, cheering them on.

“We try to be the most fun team,” said Gentry. “We always try to carry that energy anywhere we go.”

Janton affirmed: “Every meet that we go to, no matter how small.”