Men’s Swim and Dive Fall to Notre Dame

MSU vs. Notre Dame (Men only) Complete Results

SOUTH BEND, IND.–A deeply talented Notre Dame swim and dive program held off the Spartans Friday night 197-103 at Rolfs Aquatic Center.

The Fighting Irish came out blazing as they placed first, second and third in the 200 medley relay, with the winning relay going 1:30.54.

“We finished pretty strong but we really had a hard time getting started early,” Michigan State Head Coach Matt Gianiodis said.

The 1,650-yard freestyle and 400-yard individual medley were two events featured that are not normally swam in dual meets, and the Spartans performed well in the events. Gianiodis said the mile was successful as freshman Jon Burke placed third  going 16:09.19. In the 400 individual medley, sophomore Nate Weeks placed second with a time of 4:09.03.

“Nate Weeks came back really strong in his freestyle; I thought that was a good swim,” Gianiodis said.

Senior Bryan Williams and Burke won the only  two events for the Spartans in the 100-yard butterfly and the 500-yard freestyle respectively. Williams won the butterfly with a time of 49.05 while Burke posted a time of 4:39.66.

“Jon came out of the mile and swam well which was really nice, and Bryan has been really consistent with us,” Gianiodis said.

Notre Dame’s swim coach Tim Welsh was also honored by the Spartan swim team after he announced his retirement on November 11. He has coached for 37 years, 29 being with the Fighting Irish and will finish out the season before leaving.

Gianiodis said his team presented Welsh with a Michigan State sweater at the meet.

“I’ll probably never see him on a pool deck again,” Gianiodis, who has known Welsh for 25 years, said.

“We did it informally, (Welsh) said he couldn’t handle it emotionally,” Gianiodis said.

 

Max King is the host of Pool Time for Impact Sports

Photo: Max King