Dolan Tops Comerford in Notre Dame’s Victory vs. Louisville

LOUISVILLE VS. NOTRE DAME

• Results
• Hosted by Notre Dame
• Saturday, October 7th
• 25 Yards
• Dual Meet Format

FINAL TEAM SCORES

• MEN: Notre Dame 153.5, Louisville 146.5
• WOMEN: Notre Dame 181.5, Louisville 118.5

The Notre Dame men and women hosted ACC rival Louisville in dual meet action on Saturday. The Fighting Irish came away with a 153.5-146.5 victory on the men’s side. On the women’s side, Notre Dame defeated Louisville 181.5-118.5.

Abbie Dolan was a key player in the win, bringing home 3 individual victories. In the 200 free, Dolan and Louisville’s NCAA champ Mallory Comerford were separated by just a hundredth. Comerford came home hard with a 26.59 final split to try and run Dolan down, but she came up just short, with Dolan touching in 1:46.12 to Comerford’s 1:46.13. They went head-to-head again with another close finish in the 100 free, but Dolan was once again able to hold on in the end. She took it out in a quick 23.68 to give herself the lead, winning in 48.94 to Comerford’s 48.99.

Dolan’s additional win came in the 50 free, where she put up a 22.98 ahead of teammate Katie Smith (23.16).

Teammate Lindsay Stone also had an impressive performance for the Fighting Irish, sweeping the distance races. She first took the 1000 free win, posting the only sub-10:00 time to win it in 9:51.48. She returned to the pool for the 500 free, using her closing speed to outpace teammate Molly Treble, 4:50.07 to 4:51.82. Comerford wound up 3rd in that race with a 4:53.13.

Grace Oglesby and Rachael Bradford-Feldman were the highlight performers for the Louisville women. Oglesby was the only woman to break 2:00 in the 200 fly, putting up a 1:58.64 to outpace Notre Dame’s Nikki Smith (2:00.50). Bradford-Feldman gave the Cardinals a victory in the final individual event of the day. She led the 200 IM from start to finish, touching in 2:03.45 to lead a 1-2-3 finish with teammates Mariia Astashkina (2:04.30) and Alina Kendzior (2:04.93).

On the men’s side, Notre Dame freshman Zach Yeadon made a statement in his first collegiate dual meet. In the 1000 free, Yeadon took down Louisville All-American Marcelo Acosta (9:05.37), coming within tenths of his best time with a winning time of 9:02.47. He went head-to-head with Acosta again in the 500 free, completing the distance sweep with a 4:21.66. Acosta would have wound up 2nd, but was ultimately disqualified.

Justin Plaschka and Robby Whitacre joined Yeadon in winning multiple individual events for the Irish. Whitacre swept the backstrokes, leading the way with a 48.27 in the 100 back and a 1:45.58 in the 200 back. Plaschka swam to a 20.04 in the 50 free, touching out Louisville’s Andrej Barna (20.17). He then took on Louisville’s Zach Harting in the 100 fly, coming through on the back half to win it in 47.91 ahead of Harting’s 48.04.

After the narrow 50 free loss, Barna came back to win the 100 free for Louisville. He was neck-and-neck with Notre Dame’s Tabahn Afrik, but was able to get his hand to the wall first with a 44.30 to Afrik’s 44.49. Teammate Carlos Claverie also picked up wins for the Cardinals, sweeping the breaststrokes with a 55.47 in the 100 breast and a 2:01.12 in the 200 breast.

PRESS RELEASE – LOUISVILLE:

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – In their first dual meet of the season, the Cardinals won a collective 12 events but were unable to top the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The No. 7 men were narrowly defeated 153.5-146.5, while the No. 9 women fell 181.5-118.5 in South Bend on Saturday afternoon.

“It was a good early season assessment for our program,” said UofL head coach Arthur Albiero. “We are excited to get back to training and working towards our lofty team goals. We fell short on final scores but I am proud of the team resolve. Special recognition to our divers who won three of the four diving events today. This group continues to make good progress.”

In the first event of the day, the Lady Cards 200 medley ‘B’ relay of Ashlyn Schoof, Avery Braunecker, Nastja Govejsek, and Casey Fanz took second with a time of 1:41.92, while the ‘A’ team of Alina Kendzior, Maria Astashkina, Grace Oglesby, and Lainey Visscher posted a time of 1:42.01 to take third. The men’s ‘A’ team of Nikolaos Sofianidis, Carlos Claverie, Nicolas Albiero, and Andrej Barna swam to a first place finish in a time of 1:29.02.

Sophie Cattermole led the Cardinals in the 1000 free, placing third with a 10:15.40. On the men’s side, Marcelo Acosta (9:05.37) and T.C. Smith (9:23.37) took second and third, respectively.

In the 200 free, Mallory Comerford placed second with a time of 1:46.12. Zach Harting (1:39.11) finished second with Jarrett Jones (1:39.86) and Samuel Steele (1:39.90) just behind in third and fourth.

Kendzior raced to a third place and finish in the 100 back (55.09), while Schoof took fourth in a 56.04. In the men’s event, Sofianidis was fourth with a time of 49.23.

In a tight 100 breaststroke race, with less than one second separating the top five finishers, Astashkina (1:03.65), Silvia Guerra (1:03.70), Morgan Friesen (1:03.78), and Lauren James (1:04.41) took third, fourth, fifth, and sixth. Claverie captured the Cardinals’ first individual win of the morning, touching the wall in a 55.47.

Oglesby secured the Lady Cards’ first win of the day, racing to a time of 1:58.65 in the 200 fly. Freshman Carley Lowe took third with a 2:02.78. Albiero also placed first in the 200 fly by nearly two seconds, swimming a time of 1:48.10. Spencer Carl was fourth with a 1:52.93 and Etay Gurevich took fifth in a 1:53.01.

Visscher tied for second with Notre Dame’s Katie Smith in the 50 free (23.16), while Fanz posted a 23.43 to place fourth. Barna also placed second for the Cards with a 20.17, and Matyi Kovacs took fourth with a 20.97.

Divers Molly Fears (290.48) and Breanna Price (266.10) took second and third, respectively in the 3-meter. Daniel Fecteau narrowly edged Notre Dame’s Coumos by .69, winning the men’s 1-meter with a score of 324.00. Newcomer Daniel Pinto was third with a 318.23.

Comerford (48.99) and Visscher (50.72) took second and third to lead the Cardinals in the 100 free. Barna continued his successful day with a win in the men’s event, defeating Notre Dame’s Tabahn Afrik by .19 with a 44.30. Harting was third in a time of 45.02.

In the 200 back, Kenzior finished second (1:59.27), while Schoof placed fourth (2:01.01). For the men, Albiero swam a 1:46.81 to place second.

Astashkina recorded her first individual victory as a Cardinal, finishing nearly three seconds ahead of her closest competitor with a 2:13.99 in the 200 breaststroke. Fellow freshman Friesen placed third (2:17.70), while Rachael Bradford-Feldman was fourth (2:18.03). The Cardinals swept the 200 breaststroke as Claverie touched first with a 2:01.12. Todd Owen was third in a time of 2:05.25.

Comerford (4:53.13) and Arina Openysheva (4:58.83) took third and fourth in the 500 free, and Jones added a second place (4:31.16) in the men’s race.

In the 100 fly, Oglesby continued her solid performance with a third place finish (54.38). Govejsek followed just behind in fourth with a time of 55.34. Harting took second, stopping the clock in a time of 48.04.

Fears notched a win in the 1-meter diving event, scoring a 289.95. Michaela Sliney was fourth, tallying a 259.80. In the men’s 3-meter, Pinto (348.98) and Fecteau (343.73) scored a 1-2 finish for the Cardinals.

The Lady Cards swept the 200 IM with Bradford-Feldman leading the charge in a time of 2:03.45. Astashkina took second in a 2:04.30, while Kendzior was third with a 2:04.93. In the men’s 200 IM, Claverie placed second in a time of 1:50.52. Jones was fourth in a 1:51.24.

In the final event of the day, the team of Visscher, Comerford, Rachel Grooms, and Openysheva finished second in the 400 free relay (3:20.77). The Cardinal men finished the meet with a win in the 400 free relay as Albiero, Barna, Sofianidis, and Harting touched the wall in a 2:57.92.

Up next, the Lady Cards will head to Dallas, Texas on Oct. 13-14 for the SMU Classic. The team will then reconvene at the Ralph Wright Natatorium on Oct. 20-21 for a two-day dual against Michigan.

PRESS RELEASE – NOTRE DAME:

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For what is believed to be the first time in school history, the Notre Dame men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams downed a top 10 foe in dual meet action as the No. 17 Notre Dame men beat No. 7 Louisville, 153.5-146.5, while the No. 25 Irish women beat the ninth-ranked Cardinals, 181.5-118.5, on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Abbie Dolan won the 50, 100 and 200 freestyle events, while also adding a leg to the champion 400 freestyle relay team, to help guide the Notre Dame women to victory. Dolan’s wins in the 100 and 200 freestyle came impressive over tight competition from Louisville’s Mallory Comerford, a gold medalist at the 2017 FINA World Championships.

Freshman Zachary Yeadon broke a pair of Rolfs Aquatic Center records in his collegiate dual meet debut, winning the 500 and 1000 freestyle in the process.

Other Irish individual double-event winners against the Cardinals were Justin Plaschka (50 freestyle and 100 butterfly), Lindsay Stone (500 and 1000 freestyle) and Rob Whitacre (100 and 200 backstroke). “Obviously this is a great win for both of our programs,” Irish head coach Mike Litzinger said. “I’m truly happy with the total team effort that both groups put in. While there were some shining individual moments, the reality of it is our group works very hard. They rely on each other. Today was a perfect example of true team swimming.”

Olympian Marks Tumble

Making the freshman’s feats all the more noteworthy, Zachary Yeadon’s pair of Rolfs records were hardly established at the expense of run-of-the-mill swimmers of yesteryear.

By swimming a 9:02.47 in the 1000 freestyle, Yeadon topped a 9:02.50 swam by Connor Jaeger of Michigan in 2013. Jaeger represented the United States in both the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games, winning silver in Rio in the 1500 meters.

With a 4:21.66 in the 500 freestyle, Yeadon beat out the pool record of 4:21.98 which had been set by Denver’s Blake Worsley in 2009. Worsley represented his native Canada in the 2012 Olympics in London.

Irish Winners

Notre Dame swimmers and divers claimed the following event titles on Saturday afternoon, winning 20 of the 32 events:
• Women’s 200 medley relay (1:41.14) – Carly Quast, Meaghan O’Donnell, Erin Sheehan and Fonseca Revilak
• Women’s 1000 freestyle (9:51.48) – Lindsay Stone
• Men’s 1000 freestyle (9:02.47) – Zachary Yeadon
• Women’s 200 freestyle (1:46.12) – Abbie Dolan
• Men’s 200 freestyle (1:38.78) – Tabahn Afrik
• Women’s 100 backstroke (54.68) – Carly Quast
• Men’s 100 backstroke (48.27) – Rob Whitacre
• Women’s 100 breaststroke (1:02.99) – Meaghan O’Donnell
• Women’s 50 freestyle (22.98) – Abbie Dolan
• Men’s 50 freestyle (20.04) – Justin Plaschka
• Women’s 3-meter diving (294.38) – Kelly Straub
• Women’s 100 freestyle (48.94) – Abbie Dolan
• Women’s 200 backstroke (1:56.49) – Alice Treuth
• Men’s 200 backstroke (1:45.58) – Rob Whitacre
• Women’s 500 freestyle (4:50.07) – Lindsay Stone
• Men’s 500 freestyle (4:21.66) – Zachary Yeadon
• Women’s 100 butterfly (54.34) – Erin Sheehan
• Men’s 100 butterfly (47.91) – Justin Plaschka
• Men’s 200 IM (1:49.58) – Nick Milikich
• Women’s 400 freestyle relay (3:20.49) – Abbie Dolan, Rachel Wittmer, Lauren Heller and Fonseca Revilak

Coach Litzinger Says

On the freshman class that accounted for six individual event wins on Saturday:

“Our team has some really good experience at the top end, but we are recruiting very well and that showed by the freshman performances. I think our future is very strong. To swim against teams like Louisville and, next week, Texas A&M and Michigan State, then down the road Indiana and others, I think we’re going to continue to be tested. This is just one meet. Now we need to run through the rest of the year with the priorities being NCAAs and ACCs.”

Up Next

A five-meet homestand to open the 2017-18 season will continue on Friday for the Irish as Notre Dame plays host to Michigan State and No. 15/5 Texas A&M at 5 p.m. in the Rolfs Aquatic Center. The Aggies will stick around for a dual-meet against the Irish at 11 a.m. on Saturday.