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Irish Travel To Ohio State Invite

Buckeyes host invitational for third season in a row.

Nov. 29, 2007

NOTRE DAME, Ind. - The University of Notre Dame men's swimming and diving team will be part of a 13-squad field set to take part in the Ohio State Invitational from Nov. 30-Dec. 1 at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.

The meet will be contested in a similar fashion to the BIG EAST and NCAA Championship meets, as preliminaries will be held in the morning with the finals in those events challenged that evening.

Live results will available throughout the three-day event at UND.com.

"The Ohio State Invitational means a lot of important things for us," said Irish head coach Tim Welsh. "In simple terms, it is the last meet of the fall semester. Similarly, it is our last chance to race before the holidays, and when we return from Christmas training, there is a month from the beginning of school to the BIG EAST Championships, so there's not a lot of time in there. In the practical sense, a lot of how we are going to look in the BIG EAST meet will start to take shape this weekend. It is the focal point of our fall semester; it is the meet toward which we have been directing our efforts since classes began, and it is one of three primary meets of the season: (the Ohio State Invitational), the BIG EAST Championship, and the NCAA Championships. In academic terms, I joke with the guys that we take our final exams in swimming first, as this is kind of like our finals week."

The size and quality of the field will pose a great test for the Irish. No. 10 Minnesota, No. 13 Ohio State, and No. 13 (among mid-majors) Denver have all posted solid individual and team results thus far this season.

Both Ohio State and Notre Dame have posted a dual meet win over Cleveland State, and Minnesota will face Purdue later in the season. The Boilermakers handed Notre Dame a dual meet loss on Nov. 9.

John Lytle has led the Irish in the 50 Free (21.04), 100 Free (45.40), and 200 Free (1:39.49) since the 2007 campaign kicked off.

Freshman Michael Sullivan has stepped up by collecting the team's fastest times in the 1,000 Free (9:35.05), 1,650 Free (15:56.11), and 200 Back (1:50.59). Ross Moore (100 Fly, 200 Fly) and Jeff Wood (100 Back) have also swam the quickest times for the Irish in each of their respective events.

Off the board, Michael Bulfin has recorded the top marks in both the 1- and 3-meter diving events.

"We want to swim in a meet where our fastest guys are challenged to do their best," Welsh continued. "We're anticipating season-best performances across the board and, perhaps, some lifetime-bests as well. So we are looking to see how well we hold up during the mornings and evenings, across all three days, and across all twenty NCAA events."

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