Full strength men's squad hosts Oakland
By MIKE CONNOLLY
Associate Sports Editor
With the Big East Championships less than a month away, the Notre Dame men's swimming and diving team is gearing up for a possible first place finish.
"We are in a transition period to try and get ourselves in position to do the best we have ever done at the Big East Championships," head coach Tim Welsh said of his team's second-place finish at last year's championships.
Welsh expects a tough challenge Saturday from Oakland University at the Rolfs Aquatic Center. Last weekend, the Golden Grizzlies defeated the Spartans of Michigan State, 119-118. The victory improved Oakland to 8-1 in dual meets this year.
While the Irish finished third in the Bill Ritter Invitational in Milwaukee, Wisc., last weekend, the squad was shorthanded and tired. Saturday, the full Irish squad will be ready to race. If Notre Dame hopes to improve its 3-6 record, every swimmer will have to perform well.
"The team from Oakland is an excellent team," Welsh said. "We'll race everyone we can."
In the second to last dual meet of the year, Welsh expects some swimmers to perform better than usual and others to do worse. It is all part of the fine tuning before the Big East Championships.
"When you put polish on, sometimes it gets dull before it gets bright and sometimes it gets bright right away," he said. "So there might be some surprises this weekend on both sides. We expect that some guys might look super while other guys might look not so great."
The meet against the Grizzlies offers the Irish swimmers the unique opportunity to compete in the same races they will swim at the Big East Championships.
"With one exception, all of the individual events in the Big East Championships will be contested Saturday," Welsh said. "We are excited to have a chance to see our team race in all of the Big East Championship events this weekend."
Notre Dame was originally scheduled to face Wisconsin-Milwaukee Friday; that meet has been postponed indefinitely. Last weekend, UWM defeated Notre Dame, 886-723.5.
All Sports Stories for Friday, January 28, 2000
