Notre Dame Gains Munster’s Versatile Nicole Smith

Nicole Smith, a senior at Munster High School in Munster, Indiana, has verbally committed to swim for the University of Notre Dame, for the 2015-2016 season.

Smith represents Munster Swim Club and is primarily a flyer, but she is versatile, as she can swim sprint and mid-distance freestyle, along with the 200 and 400 I.M.. She had a successful junior season, placing fourth in the 100 Fly and sixth in the 500 Free at the 2014 Indiana High School State Championships. She also helped her team place seventh in both the 200 and 400 Freestyle Relay, anchoring in 23.0 and 51.30. She won the 200 Fly and placed second in the 400 I.M. at the Speedo Champions Series, in Pleasant Prairie. Most recently, she placed 68th in the 100 Fly and 27th in the 200 Fly at the 2014 Summer Junior Nationals. Smith is close to securing 2016 Olympic Trials cuts in the 100 and 200 Fly.

Smith’s Best Times

(SCY/LCM)

50 Free: 23.86/28.41

100 Free: 52.87/1:04.10

200 Free: 1:57.65/2:12.14

500 Free: 4:53.72/4:38.48

100 Fly: 53.81/1:02.55

200 Fly: 1:59.41/2:16.14

200 I.M.: 2:04.14/2:26.50

400 I.M.: 4:23.74/5:07.65

She Is Improving

Smith has had a massive junior season in terms of improvement and development. Most of Smith’s best times have been achieved in the last year. As a junior, Smith improved her long course 100 Fly and 200 Fly by two seconds. In short course, she dropped six seconds in the 200 Fly, two seconds in the 100 Fly, fourteen seconds in the 500 Free, and four seconds in the 400 I.M., just this year. Her improvement indicates that she is only getting faster and will likely develop even more in her senior season.

Smith will indeed have an immediate impact on the Fighting Irish, as she would score points at the ACC Championships in the 100 Fly (B Final), the 400 I.M. (C Final), and the 200 Fly (B Final). Her 500 Free has potential to score as well. She will be valuable in nearly all of the Notre Dame relays. As versatile as she is, Smith could be developed to be an ACC Championship A-Finalist in several events. Another massive year of improvement from Smith could mean going to NCAAs in her first year with the Fighting Irish.