The headline of a press release on Aug. 12, 2024, that read “Notre Dame Student-Athletes Wrap Up Most Successful Olympics In School History,” encapsulated the meteoric rise of Notre Dame’s swim and dive program under head coach Chris Lindauer. In only his second season at the helm, Lindauer’s group on the men’s side earned its first top-10 finish in program history and sent two athletes, ACC Swimmer of the Year Chris Guiliano and Tyler Christianson, to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
A press release, only three days later, however, completely transformed the narrative of the upcoming season. It read, “Men’s Swimming Program Suspended For A Minimum Of One Academic Year.”
“I think shocked is an understatement,” Lindauer said when asked about his and his team’s reaction to the news. “Sometimes life catches you by surprise, sometimes you have to pivot … certainly, it’s not something we wanted to go through, but it’s something we’ve taken and learned from and owned.”
Senior leader Jess Geriane expressed the difficulty of losing her male teammates going into the season.
“It feels like we did lose half the team, but at the same time, we lost half our family,” Geriane described.
But without half of the entire program behind the blocks, the onus was placed on the women’s team to continue the program’s upward trajectory amidst the turmoil. The Irish opened up the season in South Bend, hosting Miami (Ohio). They dominated their regional foe, winning 10 of 14 events, headlined by race victories for three newcomers: freshman Carli Cronk, sophomore transfer Lainey Mullins and rookie Hollie Widdows. Despite suffering losses in the following tri-meet to Wisconsin and Michigan, the freshmen impressed once again. Cronk highlighted the rookie performers after recording a 4:15.53 in the 400 IM, which ranked eighth in program history.
Their next contest was a midweek competition against Indiana. Despite falling to the Hoosiers on the road, Cronk and the freshmen contingent continued to perform well, as did both Irish A relay teams. Both veteran-laden groups, the 200 medley (Geriane, graduate Gigi Baldacci, junior Renee Gillian and graduate Imogen Meers) and 400 free (Meers, Geriane, Widdows and senior Madelyn Christman) finished second.
Notre Dame suffered another defeat against Louisville to kick off the month of November. However, the same 400 free team would shatter the 200 free relay school record in the contest, a bright spot in an otherwise tough loss.
The Irish held their own in an Ohio State Fall Invite that featured a number of United States Olympians, finishing fifth as a team. They stumbled against Purdue and Kentucky in West Lafayette on Jan. 10, but Cronk won two events, continuing to cement herself as one of the nation’s best first-year swimmers. She would go on to break the 400 IM record as Notre Dame finished second at the Tim Welsh Classic to close out the regular season.
The postseason began with the ACC Championships, where Notre Dame placed 12th as a team. Cronk proved she could race on the big stage, breaking another school record in the 500 free. The 200 medley relay, composed of Geriane, Baldacci, graduate Katie Drumm and Madelyn Christman, also eclipsed a school record on the day. They wrapped up the year at the NCAA Championships, sending six swimmers and a diver to compete in a pair of relays and five individual events.
“This was the first time we brought a squad, we brought seven to the meet,” Lindauer said. “That lays the groundwork for the future.”
Sending a relay team to NCAAs for the first time in six years, Lindauer’s women’s team proved it can compete with the nation’s best, even during a year full of obstacles.
In addition to the development of the women’s team, Notre Dame diving underwent major changes and took meaningful steps forward. After the departure of former head diving coach Mark Bradshaw to Purdue, Josh Arndt stepped in right before the season began. While the transition was abrupt, Arndt described being “confident in their [the coaching staff’s] confidence,” and undeterred by the current situation. Arndt saw both of his divers place at the NCAA Championships, with junior Grace Courtney taking 42nd on the 3-meter springboard on the women’s side and junior Ben Nguyen taking 29th on the platform.
While the 2025 season was far from what anyone within the program could have expected back then in August, the success Lindauer’s group was able to have speaks to the state of the program.
“It was a tremendous year, and a lot of success in a lot of different ways,” Lindauer said. “If we can do what we did this year and overcome the adversity we did, really the sky’s the limit.”
