Illinois’ Reilly Lanigan Gives Verbal Accord to Notre Dame for 2016-17

Reilly Lanigan of Lake Forest, Illinois, gave a verbal commitment to the University of Notre Dame today and will head to South Bend, Indiana, along with fellow recruit Katie Smith, in the fall of 2016. Lanigan swims for Patriot Aquatic Club and Lake Forest High School. A very versatile mid-distance freestyler/IMer/butterflier/backstroker, Lanigan placed third in the 200 IM and seventh in the 100 fly at the 2015 Illinois High School Girls’ Championships.

Her top SCY times over the last two seasons have been:

• 50 free – 23.69
• 100 free – 50.60
• 200 free – 1:47.41
• 500 free – 4:47.48
• 1000 free – 9:55.96
• 200 IM – 2:02.16
• 400 IM – 4:18.46
• 100 fly – 55.27
• 200 back – 2:01.07

Lanigan fills an important hole for the Fighting Irish; both her 200 free and 500 free times would have been fast enough to make the “B” finals at 2015 ACC Championships and would have been Notre Dame’s only points in those events. Lanigan is an excellent pick up for Fighting Irish head coach Mike Litzinger, who made the jump from North Carolina in April.

Lanigan told SwimSwam: “I chose to commit to Notre Dame because I felt like it was the perfect balance between swimming and academics and I knew that it was a place where I could improve myself both in the pool and in the classroom.  I was drawn in by the level of excitement that Coach Litzinger and Coach Woo showed about the upcoming season and was overwhelmed by how welcoming the girls were.  I am extremely excited for the next four years as a part of the Fighting Irish family!”