Swimmers Cap Off Season

The largest contingent of Big East qualifiers in team history returned from Pittsburgh, Penn. on Saturday, Feb. 20 proud of what they had accomplished.

Qualifying members of the men’s and women’s swimming teams competed at the Big East Championships at Pittsburgh University between Wednesday, Feb. 17, to Saturday, Feb. 20. A total of 11 Big East member schools competed on the men’s side. Out of those 11, the Friars finished 10th with total of 70 points. The women’s team finished 11th with 62 points, just six points behind Seton Hall.

"Going into the meet I knew as a team we had all trained very hard to get ready," says Mike Loftis ’10. "So I was very exited to see how our work would pay off."

"The senior men all had an outstanding meet," said Coach John O’Neill. "The highlight included Mike Loftis breaking the first men’s short course yards record in more than a decade."

For the seniors it was a good night all around. In his final collegiate meet, Loftis swam well for the Friars. He set the PC record in the 100-yard butterfly with a time of 51.05 during the time trial on Friday, Feb 19. In the preliminaries Loftis came in 22nd place in the 100-yard butterfly and in the same event Colin Casciano ’12 finished 31st with a time of 52.47.

"I was a little nervous," said Loftis. "I knew it would be the last meet of my life, and I wanted to do my best to end it well."

On the women’s side, Sam Schlich ’13 had a strong showing in her first ever Big East Championship meet, postin a time of 1:59.19 in the 200-yard freestyle. Two other Friars followed closely, with Alexis Fatigati ’11 and Caroline Caliri ’12 who both came within two seconds of Schlich’s time.

In the 100-yard backstroke, Captain Carrie Lamb ’10 clocked in with a time of 1:02.40. She shaved three-tenths-of-a-second off her original Big East qualifying time.

In his final swim for the Friars Mathew Card ’10 recorded a time of 21.50 in the men’s 50-yard freestyle. Card’s time was less than half-a-second off the pace for qualifying for the finals in the event.

"I was very proud to see everyone swim so well, as well as honored to leave a mark on a program that has meant so much to me," said Loftis.

Other swimmers representing PC were Owen Hughes ’10, Dave Wilson ’10, Tim Reilly ’10, Matt Green ’12, Erin Nanna ’13, Kelly Lamoreaux ’13, Chris Morales ’13, and Eric Burtchell ’13.

"We were very pleased with our group’s performance," said O’Neill.

When all was said and done, Louisville took first on the men’s side with a final score of 808. while Notre Dame won the women’s side with a final score of 773.5.

The swim team is done for the year, but get ready to see the team flourish next year. A special thanks to the seniors on the team for putting in the effort that was so well rewarded.