Irish aim for double victory in Notre Dame Invitational
By NOREEN GILLESPIE
Saint Mary's Editor
Fall semester work will culminate next week in the classroom, but the men's swimming and diving team will face its true test this weekend in the water.
Entering three days of competition at Rolfs Aquatic Center, the 1-3 squad will put its fall training efforts to the test to close the first half of their season.
"If this were class, this meet is the final exam," said head coach Tim Welsh. "The next time we put this much emphasis on a meet will be the Big East Championships."
Men's competition will be fairly tight this weekend, with a mix of 10 returning and new teams competing in Irish home waters. Michigan State, Western Kentucky, Toledo and Wyoming all pose strong competition for the Irish, but show no clear-cut frontrunner.
"The meet is up for grabs at this point," Welsh said. "If you look at the entry, you can't run down it and say, `This team wins.' It's going to make life very competitive."
The Irish are relying on consistent standouts freestyler Ray Fitzpatrick, butterflier Ryan Verlin and breastroker Dan Szilier to pull in points.
But a strong showing for the Irish will require team depth as well as standout performances. Looking to continue consistent top finishes in the distance events, Welsh will look to several athletes to emerge in the sprint freestyles, one of the team's weak points.
"We'll rely on two or three people for sure, but we'll really be looking to people to step up and take leadership positions," Welsh said.
The strategy will be a simple one.
"In simple terms? We want to swim as fast as we can in every event," Welsh said. "If we can do that, the points will take care of themselves. It's that simple."
Posting fast swims in the morning sessions will be key for those points because of the trials and finals format of the meet.
"You win the championship at night, you lose the meet in the morning," Welsh said. "We need to swim fast in the morning to qualify for finals in the right places."
The undefeated women's swimming and diving squad will also seek to defend its home turf this weekend, taking on nine registered teams. To keep its win streak going, it will need to ward off strong competition from University of Wyoming and Michigan State.
"We're not taking anything for granted, but we're excited to be swimming at our home facility," said assistant coach Kristin Heath. "This is a big meet for the men, and we're excited to be able to swim the meet alongside them. When you get more Irish swimmers around, there's a lot of excitement."
Defending a second place finish last year, the Irish women will be forced to look to the team's depth to step up and fill in key positions. Top scorers Carrie Nixon, Brooke Davey and Shannon Suddarth left campus Wednesday to compete in the U.S. Open this weekend.
"We will have to look to some of our other women to step up," Heath said. "We're missing our three major scorers, so we'll have to look to other women to step up individually and particularly in relays. But the 20 women we have swimming this weekend are ready to race."
In the absence of Nixon and Davey, Heath will rely on Laura Shepard and Brenda Reilly to fill the holes. Allison Lloyd and Kathleen Rimkus will fill Suddarth's spot in the breast stroke events.
After falling to the Wolverines last year, which came into the 1998 meet tapered and shaved, the Irish will look to notch a victory this weekend.
"We are by no means rested for this meet," Heath said. "This is a tough time of year in the water and academically for our athletes. We want to win the meet, but our primary goal is to swim fast."
Following a fourth-place finish at the University of Minnesota Invite last weekend, the Irish women have already prepared to shift gears from dual meet competition to a championship environment.
"We'd like to improve equally if not more than how we swam in Minnesota," Heath said. "It's going to be a tough meet, but we're going to come to each session prepared."
All Sports Stories for Thursday, December 2, 1999
