Nixon sets meet record in 50 free
By NOREEN GILLESPIE
Saint Mary's Editor
If the performance of the women's swimming and diving team was any indication of how Notre Dame will perform under championship pressure, this squad is well prepared.
Entering the Minnesota Invitational last weekend stacked against No. 16 Minnesota, No. 17 Tennessee and No. 24 Illinois, the Notre Dame women managed a fourth-place finish despite efforts by the top three to edge the competition by resting for the meet.
"It's hard to predict what you're going into at these meets," said head coach Bailey Weathers. "This time, the teams were more shaved and rested than we anticipated. Had we swam the times we swam this weekend last year, we would have won this meet."
Minnesota finished the meet in first place with 847 points, Wisconsin finished second with 695.50, and Illinois in third with 632.
Regardless, several Irish swimmers had standout performances that edged top swimmers from the top three teams, proving that even unshaved and unrested, they were prepared for the meet.
Junior Carrie Nixon led the meet for the Irish, chalking up a double win in the 50 and 100 meter freestyle. Nixon's win in the 50 freestyle Friday night earned her a "B" NCAA qualifying time of 23.04 seconds and eclipsed the 10-year meet record by five-hundredths of a second.
Nixon continued her winning streak Sunday with a victory in the 100 freestyle in 56.25, also a "B" qualifying time. Nixon finished the 100 butterfly in second place, after earning the top seed in Saturday's preliminaries and narrowly missing Elizabeth Barger's 1999 record time of 55.52.
Senior Alison Newell also came in with a big win for the Irish, finishing first in the 200 meter butterfly with a "B" qualifying time of 2 minutes, 13. 90 seconds. Newell also narrowly missed her school's record in the event.
"It was the second fastest swim we've had in the history of the event," Weathers said.
Rounding out the swimming performances, sophomore Kelly Hecking finished third in Sunday's 200 backstroke in 2:16.67, and won the 100 backstroke Saturday evening with a "B" qualifying time of 1:02.65.
In preparation for the NCAA championships, finals each evening were held in meters rather than yards, because the 2000 NCAA championships will be in meters. Regardless of the fourth-place finish, the Irish did have an advantage in the meet with their background training completed primarily in short course meters.
"We're one of the only teams in the country who train in short course meters," Weathers said. "The transition [from yards to meters] didn't affect us that much. They weren't different races."
The No. 22 Irish will see Illinois again later in the season for a dual meet, in which Weathers believes his swimmers will have an edge.
"Even shaved and tapered, our swimmers were well matched with Illinois swimmers," he said. "This meet will definitely help us in our dual meet season ... we're well prepared."
All Sports Stories for Tuesday, November 23, 1999
