Akron Breaks MAC Record in 400 Free Relay at Shamrock Invite

Shamrock Invite

• January 25-26th
• University of Notre Dame, South Bend, IN
• Short Course Yards
• Full Results

TEAM SCORES

WOMEN

1. Notre Dame – 1191.5
2. Akron – 960.5
3. Ohio State – 873.5
4. Iowa – 434.5
5. Missouri State – 17

MEN

1. Ohio State – 1397
2. Notre Dame – 826.5
3. Iowa – 780.5
4. Missouri State – 407

WOMEN’S RECAP

Notre Dame hosted the annual Shamrock Invite on Friday-Saturday, January 25-26th. The meet was host to plenty of fast swimming and broken records. Akron got things rolling in the first event with a 1:29.94 women’s 200 free relay, narrowly out-touching Notre Dame (1:30.09). Akron was led off by Sophia Henell in 23.02, then Regan Engel, Sadie Fazekas, and Sarah Watson posted splits of 22.29, 22.02, and 22.69 respectively. ND was just behind, having been led off by Abbie Dolan in 22.86, then was followed by Carly Quast (22.09), Sofia Revilak (22.79), and Katie Smith (22.35). Both teams were exceptionally close to the pool record of 1:29.91, which The Zips missed by just .03 seconds. Akron was also just .46 seconds off their scool record of 1:29.46. ND was quite close too, coming in just 1.28 seconds of their school record of 1:28.81.

Akron and Notre Dame’s relays were probably the biggest results coming out of this meet, where both teams put up impressive times on all 5 relays. Probably the biggest of these relays was the 400 free relay, where Akron won in a pool record, school record, and Mid-American Conference (MAC) record. Akron’s team in the 400 was the same as the 200, just in a different order. Watson led off in 49.93, and was followed by Engel (49.14), Fazekas (49.08), and Henell (48.87) for a final time of 3:17.02. Their time just undercut their school record, which also stood as the MAC Record, of 3:17.17, set back in 2017, a relay which both Fazekas and Engel were both on. They also slid in under the pool record by an even tighter gap, breaking it by just .03 seconds. ND was right behind, coming in at 3:17.32 with their team of Dolan, Quast, Skylar Fore, and Lauren Heller.

Notre Dame posted excellent times in the medley relays, beating Akron in both. In the 200 medley relay, Notre Dame swam a 1:37.80 thanks to Quast (24.78), Meaghan O’Donnell (27.59), Cailey Grunhard (23.22), and Dolan (22.21). That time puts them well within a second of their team record of 1:36.93, and shattered the pool record of 1:39.10. It also puts the Fighting Irish about 1 second off the NCAA ‘A’ cut of 1:36.75. Akron was also under the previous pool record, coming in at 1:38.94. In the 400 medley relay, Notre Dame was even more dominant, swimming a 3:34.98. Their relay remained the same as the 200, except Erin Sheehan replaced Grunhart on the fly leg. Grunhart actually turned out to be the faster split, however, swimming a 52.18 on the B relay compared to Sheehan’s 53.49. Grunhart being on the ‘A’ would’ve put their final time at 3:33.67, which for reference, would have put them just .29 seconds off their team record, and just 1.47 seconds off the NCAA ‘A’ cut. ND did break the pool record, however, which stood at 3:35.40. Akron again came in 2nd, swimming a 3:39.18.

Notre Dame put together Dolan (1:46.96), Sinead Eksteen (1:47.74), Heller (1:48.04), and Kyra Sarazen (1:47.83) for a 7:10.57 to win the 800 free relay. They broke the pool record, yet again, which was sitting at 7:12.35 from this meet last year.

Notre Dame’s Lindsay Stone broke her own pool record of 16:12.78, swimming a 16:12.40. She swam a very consistent race, with every 50 split excluding the first and last 50 coming in between 29.27 and 29.81. Kristen Romano of Ohio State broke the pool record in the 400 IM, pulling away from ND’s Luciana Thomas on the breaststroke leg, and finishing in 4:13.91. That undercut the previous pool record of 4:14.23, which was held by Akron’s Jackie Pash.

MEN’S RECAP

Missouri State’s Artur Osvath was a record-breaker in the men’s meet, both of which came on Saturday. Osvath first swam a 1:43.98 to pull off a pretty dominant win in the 200 fly. His time was not only a new pool record, which had been 1:44.61, he also broke the Missouri State team record. He then swam a time trial in the 200 breast, where he posted a 1:53.68 to break his own pool record of 1:54.17, and break his own team record. That time puts Osvath in a tie for 5th in the nation this year.

Blair Bish, also of Missouri State, broke the pool record in the 100 breast. The record was actually held by Osvath, who came in 2nd in the race this year. Bish swam a 52.84, beating out Osvath, who touched in 53.12. The pool record was 53.21.

Notre Dame broke the pool record in the 800 free relay, shattering the record which was held by Wisconsin. Zach Yeadon led off the relay in 1;35.70, followed by Aaron Schultz (1:37.74), Marci Barta (1:36.52), and Sadler McKeen (1:34.90) combined to swim a 6:24.86. The previous pool record sat back at 6:30.25. Barta also won both IM races this weekend, which are his top events. He swam a 1:48.89 to win the 200 IM, and a 3:52.76 to win the 400 IM.

Yeadon was the dominant force in the men’s freestyle events, winning the 200, 500, and 1650. In the 200, Yeadon swam a 1:37.50, a time which is pretty consistent with his performances this season. He was 4:20.62 in the 500, winning the race by exactly 6 seconds. In the mile, which is probably his best event, Yeadon swam a 15:09.73, winning that race by 14 seconds.