Coming off a loss to Purdue last weekend, Notre Dame will compete against the University of Utah Friday.
The Utes lost their last meet two weeks ago against Denver.
Junior Eric Bonicelli and sophomore Garret Beamen will lead the Utes at the meet after victories in their previous meet. Bonicelli won the 200-yard butterfly, while Beamen came in first in the 100-yard freestyle. The Irish will counter the Utes' attack in those races with Tylor Gauger in the 200 butterfly and Frank Dyer in the 100 freestyle.
Senior captain Mike Sullivan said that he wants this next meet against Utah as a springboard for the rest of the season.
"The team really just needs to keep doing what we're doing," Sullivan said. "We have gotten faster every meet up to this point. If we can continue that trend, we're not only going to be in a good position for the Utah meet, but for the rest of the season including the Big East and NCAA meets."
The meet against the Utes will mark the fifth meet for the Irish. Irish coach Tim Welsh said that he looks for gradual improvement in the meets early in the season.
"We are putting all of our eggs in the improvement basket," Welsh said. "This is the last home meet this semester, so we are very excited."
The Utes have not faced the Irish since the 2005 Notre Dame Invitational and Welsh said facing an unfamiliar team is a big challenge.
"They are an unknown team from a good conference," Welsh said. "They are from altitude, so that means something."
The meet will start tomorrow at 5 p.m. at the Rolfs Aquatic Center.
