Notre Dame vs Iowa vs Illinois
- Friday-Saturday, January 12-13th
- Iowa City, Iowa
- Short course yards
- Day 1 Results – Day 2 Results
Team Scores
Women
- Notre Dame – 217, Iowa – 80
- Notre Dame – 213, Illinois – 84
- Iowa – 198, Illinois – 102
Men
- Notre Dame – 187, Iowa – 113
Notre Dame rolled to victories over Big Ten teams Iowa and Illinois in a 2-day meet, losing only 2 women’s events and 5 men’s events. The Notre Dame women’s team’s depth is very apparent when looking at the relay results, as 3 of their ‘A’ relays would have been faster with swimmers from the ‘B’ or ‘C’ relays.
Notre Dame’s women swept the relays with multiple swimmers on the ‘B’ and ‘C’ relays swimming faster than those on then ‘A’. The 200 medley relay went a time of 1:41.89, which is just under 3 and a half seconds off their midseason invite time of 1:38.43. There was a very close race between the ‘A’ and ‘B’ anchors, the ‘A’ anchor (Sofia Revilak Fonseca) went 22.85, while the ‘B’ anchor (Nikki Smith) went 22.98.
The 200 free relay had the biggest would-be difference, where the ‘A’ relay went a final time of 1:33.00. That time by itself is already good, seen as they went 1:30.33 rested in November. However, on that relay there was a 23.41 and 23.30 split in the middle, and the ‘B’ team and ‘C’ team each had a 23.11 split in the middle too. Those splits alone would have taken off another .49 seconds from the ‘A’ team’s time, putting it at 1:32.51. On top of that, the ‘B’ relay lead-off tied with the ‘A’ lead-off, at 23.36. Had Lauren Heller, the ‘B’ lead-off been flying on the ‘A’ relay, she almost certainly would have been faster than 23.11 because a relay start typically gives about a half a second boost to the time. That being said, if she had been on that relay, it almost certainly would have been a low 1:32 as opposed to a 1:33.33. Being able to add up a 200 free relay at a dual meet in January at that time is fantastic for Notre Dame’s outlook as they start heading into conference meet time.
The 400 medley relay was also not the fastest combination, but by a tiny margin. The ‘A’ relay fly split of 55.84 was just a little off the ‘B’ split of 55.81. That would have shaved the final time from 3:42.34 to 3:42.31. Not a huge difference to make a big deal about, but it just goes to show the depth of the team. The 400 free relay was in a similar situation, where the ‘A’ relay could have been a little bit faster. the ‘A’ had a flying split of 51.59, whereas there was a 50.88 split on the ‘B’. That would have dropped the time from 3:22.73 to 3:22.71. The ‘B’ lead-off also went 51.20, and had she been flying she might have helped lower the time another few tenths.
Notre Dame also put up its great times in both the men’s and women’s middle distance and distance free events. Freshman standouts Zach Yeadon and Lindsay Stone both won the 500 and 1000 convincingly, and Yeadon also won the men’s 200 free. Yeadon put up times of 1:38.72/4:26.19/9:13.61, while Stone went 4:52.99/9:59.80. Yeadon’s 200 time was his 2nd fastest dual meet performance of the season, while his 500 and 1000 were a little off his usual times. Similarly, Stone’s 500 was her 2nd fastest dual meet time of the season, while her 1000 was a little off her usual time. Abbie Dolan took the women’s 200 free with a 1:48.28, which was her slowest time of the season.
Iowa’s men put up relay times that were fast relative to their midseason invite times, namely the 200 free and 400 free relays, and also the 400 medley to a slightly lesser extent. The Hawkeyes put up a quick 1:20.20, a great time for a dual meet by itself, but it also sits just . 59 seconds off their season best of 1:19.61. The 400 free relay went a 2:57.99, another great dual meet time, which was about 2.5 seconds off their season best of 2:54.35. For reference, the NCAA ‘A’ cut in that event is 2:52.10. The 400 medley relay went 3:17.51, still a pretty good time for a dual meet, and just 4 seconds off their seaon best of 3:13.60.
Event Winners
Women
- 200 free relay: Notre Dame (Dolan, Quast, Wittmer, Revilak Fonseca) – 1:33.00
- 100 IM: Rachel Wittmer (Notre Dame) – 56.85
- 400 medley relay: Notre Dame (Treuth, O’Donnell, Sheehan, Dolan) – 3:42.34
- 200 medley relay: Notre Dame (Quast, O’Donnell, Grunhard, Revilak Fonseca) – 1:41.89
- 1000 free: Lindsay Stone (Notre Dame) – 9:59.80
- 200 free: Abbie Dolan (Notre Dame) – 1:48.28
- 100 back: Alice Treuth (Notre Dame) – 55.11
- 100 breast: Meaghan O’Donnell (Notre Dame) – 1:03.05
- 200 fly: Nikki Smith (Notre Dame) – 2:02.33
- 50 free: Abbie Dolan/Katie Smith (Notre Dame) – 23.20
- 100 free: Skylar Fore (Notre Dame) – 50.25
- 200 back: Alice Treuth (Notre Dame) – 1:57.74
- 200 breast: Ashley Aegerter (Illinois) – 2:17.16
- 500 free: Lindsay Stone (Notre Dame) – 4:52.99
- 100 fly: Abbie Dolan (Notre Dame) – 55.23
- 200 IM: Sam Stratford (Illinois) – 2:05.65
- 400 free relay: Notre Dame (Revilak Fonseca, Quast, Wittmer, Dolan) – 3:22.73
- 1 meter diving: Kelly Straub (Notre Dame) – 288.75
- 3 meter diving: Erin Isola (Notre Dame) – 307.20
- Platform diving (Exhibition): Thelma Strandburg (Iowa) – 248.20
Men
- 200 free relay: Iowa (Brzus, Smith, Scott, Myhre) – 1:20.20
- 100 IM: Robby Whitacre (Notre Dame) – 50.81
- 400 medley relay: Iowa (Mende, Swanepoel, Twarowski, Smith) – 3:17.51
- 200 medley relay: Notre Dame (Whitacre, Shek, Plaschka, Afrik) – 1:29.01
- 1000 free: Zach Yeadon (Notre Dame) – 9:13.61
- 200 free: Zach Yeadon (Notre Dame) – 1:38.72
- 100 back: Robby Whitacre (Notre Dame) – 48.82
- 100 breast: Steven Shek (Notre Dame) – 56.74
- 200 fly: Matt Grauslys (Notre Dame) – 1:48.44
- 50 free: Justin Plaschka (Notre Dame) – 20.16
- 100 free: Joe Myhre (Iowa) – 44.45
- 200 back: Robby Whitacre (Notre Dame) – 1:45.93
- 200 breast: Garrett Clarke (Notre Dame) – 2:03.54
- 500 free: Zach Yeadon (Notre Dame) – 4:26.19
- 100 fly: Justin Plaschka (Notre Dame) – 48.90
- 200 IM: Will Cumberland (Notre Dame) – 1:51.61
- 400 free relay: Iowa (Scott, Myhre, Kamin, Smith) – 2:57.99
- 1 meter diving: Joe Coumos (Notre Dame) – 414.15
- 3 meter diving: Anton Hoherz (Iowa) – 366.20
- Platform diving (Exhibition): Anton Hoherz (Iowa) – 356.65