Oct. 10, 1997

Irish Capture First at Notre Dame Relays

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The Notre Dame men's and women's swimming and diving teams each easily captured first place at the Notre Dame Relays on October 10. The men finished first with 230 points, just four points shy of a perfect score, 52 points ahead of second place Illinois-Chicago and 90 points ahead of third place Wabash University. The women were equally impressive as they finished first with 228 points, defeating second place Illinois-Chicago by 52 points and third place Valparaiso by 94 points.

On the men's side, the Irish dominated, capturing 12 out of a possible 13 first place finishes. The 400 yard individual medley relay missed setting a new meet record by less than a second as they finished first with a time of 3:41.53. Scott Zumbach and Steele Whowell were both double winners for the Irish.

On the women's side, the Irish set four meet records as they swam to first place. In the 200 yard freestyle relay, Notre Dame swam to a time of 1:38.87, breaking the record set in 1995 by Notre Dame. The next record came in the 400 yard individual medley relay as the Irish swam to a time of 4:08.82, shaving more than four seconds off the old record set by Notre Dame in 1995. The next new record came in the 400 yard backstroke relay as Notre Dame finished with a time of 4:02.01, bettering the old mark set in 1996 by Notre Dame by almost three seconds. The final new record set by the Irish came in the 1000 freestyle relay as they swam to a time of 10:20.08, destroying the old mark by seven seconds. Linda Gallo was a four-time winner for the Irish as she swam on the record-setting 1000 meter relay, and double winners Allison Vendt and Katie Collins also led the Irish as they each swam on two of the record-setting relays.

Men's Final Scores                  Women's Final Scores 
1. Notre Dame       230             1. Notre Dame       228
2. Illinois-Chicago 178             2. Illinois-Chicago 176 
3. Wabash           140             3. Valparaiso       134
4. Valparaiso       106             4. Butler           106
5. Butler           104             5. St. Mary's        90
6. Marquette         46             6. Marquette         78