The No. 19 ranked men’s swimming and diving team finished 23rd at the NCAA championships this past weekend at the Jean K. Freeman Aquatic Center in Minneapolis.
The 23rd-place finish marks the best ever result for the Irish at the national championship meet.
The Irish compiled a four-day total of 29 points, which is the most points scored by Irish at the NCAA championship in program history.
Notre Dame’s championship meet in Minneapolis was marked by a slew of standout individual showings.
Freshman Zachary Yeadon, now the Irish’s record holder in the 1650 and 500 freestyles, propelled the Irish by capping off his first season as Notre Dame’s lone All-American this season in the NCAA. Yeadon placed fourth in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 14:35.98. In the 500 freestyle, Yeadon earned a 10th-place finish with a time of 4:13.95.
While Yeadon contributed to a solid Irish effort in just his first year on campus, Notre Dame’s upperclassmen stepped up as well.
In the 1-meter diving event on the first day of competition, senior Joe Coumos finished in 14th place.
Irish upperclassmen also led the way in the 200 medley relay team, which finished in 15th place with a time of 1:25.21. The relay team was made up of seniors Rob Whitacre and Justin Plaschka and Steven Shek and Daniel Speers. Though the team did not place, Whitacre also broke his own school record for his backstroke leg of the event. Whitacre finished his leg in 46.39 seconds.
Coumos, Whitacre, Plaschka, Shek and Speers earned All-American honorable mentions, with Yeadon earning first-team honors.
Notre Dame finished tied for 23rd place with Cornell, Missouri and LSU. Texas won the meet with 449 points, California finished second with 437.5 and Indiana came in third with 422. Rounding out the top-five were Notre Dame's fellow ACC members North Carolina State and Florida.
Other ACC finishers included Louisville in ninth, Florida State in 21st, Miami in 27th and Virginia in 29th.
The championship ends Notre Dame’s season for both the men’s and women’s squads. The Irish women finished 41st in the women’s NCAA championships from March 14-17.
