After an eighth-place finish at the ACC Championships, the Notre Dame swimming and diving team will have representation at the NCAA Women’s Championships. The competition begins Wednesday at the University of Georgia, running through Saturday.
Swimming
Roommates Maggie Graves and Madelyn Christman will be taking on a new adventure together — this time representing the Notre Dame swim and dive women’s team at the NCAA Championships. With the meet set for March 20-23 at the University of Georgia, the junior duo will be competing at this elite level for the first time in their collegiate careers.
“You have the Olympics, you have Olympic Trials, but then you also have NCAAs,” head swimming coach Chris Lindauer said. “Outside of the Olympic Games — for Americans — NCAAs is the hardest meet to qualify for. It’s super competitive, and it’s an honor to represent first and foremost the name on your cap, but also wholly understand the power of representing Notre Dame and what that means to the program, the school and the alumni.”
Graves, a distance specialist, will swim the 1650 freestyle following a best time of 16:11.39 at the Tim Welsh Classic this season. This time ranked her second in program history. Graves also saw another top eight finish, placing fifth at the 2024 ACC Championships.
“I made it at ACCs, but I first made it in January,” Graves said. “I went a best time in the mile at the Tim Welsh Classic. It was really cool to have the whole team watch me and cheer for me the whole way.”
Making it to NCAAs has been a long time coming for Graves, especially following some disappointment last season that comes along with the guessing game of close-call swimming championship qualifications.
“Last year I was less than a second off of making it,” Graves said. “I was two out of the meet in the mile and just missed it which was pretty hard. I had a great ACCs last year and I for sure thought I made it after that.”
After a successful summer of adjusting her training to a more cardio and endurance-based focus, Graves finally reached her goal.
“I feel like I had a little bit of fire and extra motivation in me from last year to make it this year,” Graves said.
As if it weren’t already sweet enough, Graves will be joined at NCAAs by her best friend. Christman earned a spot in the 200 backstroke with a 1:53.06, a time that ranks second in school history and placed her fourth at the ACC Championships. As a result of her qualification, Christman was invited to swim the 100 backstroke (52.66) and 100 freestyle (49.07). She has continually bested these times throughout the season, ranking her third in school history in both events.
“She is the most hardworking person I know, and she gives everything [and] then some,” Graves said. “She made NCAAs as well at Tim Welsh and watching that, I was so excited. Just the realization — even though it wasn’t official — that we both made it and were going to go together. It’s always been a dream of ours.”
Lindauer spoke highly of the two women’s determination to make it to this level.
“Both of these women — Maggie and Madelyn — set out on a mission to take this meet from day one,” Lindauer said. “Just extremely proud of their buy-in to that belief. These two specifically have never skipped a beat. It wasn’t always pretty, but they believed in it and stuck with it.”
Graves is focused on enjoying the moment with her teammates by her side.
“This is the cherry on top for the season, there’s no pressure,” Graves said. “I get to do it with my best friend. We are super excited to go enjoy it and see the top level of collegiate swimming.”
Diving
Junior Calie Brady and sophomore Grace Courtney — both divers — will be competing at the competition to round up the female squad to four. Brady is a NCAA veteran, with this being her third time competing at the meet following a fifth place finish in the 1-meter (602.85) and a fourth place finish in the 3-meter (645.95) at the Zone C Diving Championships.
“Divers have had a successful year in a number of ways,” Lindauer said. “You look at dual meets and those consistent performances there, really stepping up in pressure situations where we needed points and needed them to deliver. It doesn’t just happen out of nowhere. This is all preparation and full vision and belief.”
Courtney will be making her NCAA debut after a ninth place finish in the 1-meter (564.45) at Zone C. Courtney will also compete in the 3-meter after an 11th place finish (603.40).
“That competitiveness that both of them have elevated them to qualify in a tough Zone,” Lindauer said. “Zone C is one of the most competitive zones across the country.”
Head diving coach Mark Bradshaw has been pivotal to his divers’ postseason success. The preparation, vision and belief present among Bradshaw and bestowed upon his divers has been a differentiating factor for the Irish.
“Mark Bradshaw is the master,” Lindauer said. “There’s this inside joke of ‘Postseason Mark’ — he comes out and does that in a big way. Our divers are obviously part of the swimming, but it’s also a different world as well. We share the water but it’s important to have somebody like Mark in that role to share in that philosophy and same postseason goal like NCAAs.”
Brady, Courtney, Christman and Graves will head down to Georgia guided under the leadership of Lindauer, “Postseason Mark” and the assistant coaching staff. The meet will get underway at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, March 20 and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
