The Notre Dame Fighting Irish have each picked up significant verbal commitments. The men got a pledge from Justin Plaschka of Team Suffolk, and the women picked up Molly Treble from the Long Island Aquatic Club.
Plaschka is primarily a sprint freestyler and sprint butterflier. In yards, his best times are:
- 50 free – 20.74
- 100 free – 45.05
- 200 free – 1:40.08
- 100 fly – 48.92
- 200 fly – 1:49.45
- 200 IM – 1:52.16
The flys are a relative weakness for the Fighting Irish as they enter the ACC. Their best returner in the sprint event this season is junior John Williamson, who was a 47.93 last year. The sprint free group is in a similar situation: their four best flat-start sprinters in the 100 yard free from last season will all be gone by the time Plaschka arrives, and his 45.05 will put him in position to be a big factor on many relays, especially the 400 free relay, as a freshman.
For the women’s team, the addition is Molly Treble. She’s more of a distance swimmer, with yards bests of 1:49.80, 4:47.84, 9:54.17, and 16:39.36 in the 200-1650 yard freestyles. The distance group is not one where Notre Dame has emphasized a lot in recruiting the last few years, as Treble’s best time is three seconds faster than anyone at Notre Dame was last season.
These are two great additions for this team in spots where they either had some holes, or had some coming in the future.
Hanna House is also going to Notre Dame. She switched from UVA!