Notre Dame Swimming has enjoyed competing for ages

U.S. Olympic Trials: With a green wave within reach, Notre Dame Swimming had a competition for the ages

It was a historic week at the Olympic swimming trials in Indianapolis for the Notre Dame swimming program.

Led by a rising senior Chris Guiliano, Notre Dame swimmers put on performances that had the swimming world talking. While Guiliano headlined the Irish, qualifying for the Paris Olympics in three events, the rest of the team’s performances were nothing short of exceptional.

History of swimming at Notre Dame

To understand the importance of this meet to the Notre Dame swimming program, you have to look at what the Irish program has endured over the years. The swimming program at Notre Dame had very simple beginnings, starting as a club team before becoming a varsity program in 1958 under coach Dennis Stark. After Stark, Tim Welsh took over the program in 1985 and helped the Irish win six conference crowns in the Midwestern Collegiate Conference, before moving to the BIG EAST in the fall of 1995.

It was difficult for Ireland’s BIG EAST program, until 2004, when then-Sports Director Kevin White fully funded all Olympic sports. Thanks to a fully funded program, the Irish were able to take control of the BIG EAST conference. From 2005 to 2013, the Irish won six BIG EAST titles (’05, ’06, ’08, ’09, ’12, ’13) and were the team everyone was chasing. However, changes were coming to all sports at Notre Dame as they would be leaving the BIG EAST for the Atlantic Coast Conference beginning with the 2013-2014 academic year.

With such dominant success at the BIG EAST level, expectations followed the Irish as they headed to the ACC. However, once their team made the transition to the ACC, the success they had experienced in the BIG EAST was difficult to regain. Those once-high expectations have been met by a decade of mediocrity.

In 2022, head coach Chris Lindauer was recruited to South Bend to revive an Irish program that had lost its historic tradition. During his two years at the helm, he led a culture change that allowed the men to finish in the top 10 at the NCAAs for the first time. These performances at the NCAAs had a direct correlation to the Olympic trials.

The 2024 events

Before coming to the competition in Indianapolis, those around the program knew that the Olympic trials were going to be a historic competition for the Irish. With nine swimmers representing the program and eight other swimmers committed, this was the largest contingent the team had brought to the trials.

In the water, Notre Dame athletes competed in a way that would have shocked many in previous years. For the first time in program history, the team had someone advance to the semifinals. Additionally, the team didn’t just have one swimmer advance to the semifinals, they had three…on the same night.

Tanner Fillon and Tommy Janton were in side-by-side lanes in the 100 backstroke and Chris Guiliano powered his way to the semifinals in the 200 freestyle. Janton, a rising junior, reached the championship final in the 100 back and, eventually, the 200 back.

“I was really proud of how I performed, because since 2021, I have really elevated myself,” he said. “Being in a football stadium and seeing over 20,000 people in the crowd is just incredible. »

For Guiliano, he has become a household name at the trials thanks to his dominant performances. From his nearly three-second fall in the 200 freestyle to qualify for Paris to his courageous performance to win the 100, Guiliano was undoubtedly one of the most remarkable swimmers of the competition. He added his qualification in the 50 freestyle at the end of the competition.

Even NBC Sports broadcaster Dan Hicks noted the impact of the Irish: “It’s only natural for a Notre Dame man to perform well in a football stadium.”

Guiliano added: “I’m so excited to represent (Notre Dame). And for all that it means, I hope to represent it well.

Jess Geriane, a senior at Notre Dame, knows exactly what it means for the program to perform at this level.

“Being able to swim in one of the fastest meets in the world is the opportunity of a lifetime,” she said. “I think it definitely adds fuel to the fire in terms of program goals and provides motivation for greater success.”

The green wave

On Wednesday, June 19, a record number of fans came to Lucas Oil Stadium to witness some of the most exciting events of the week and Notre Dame fans were no exception. The Leprechaun Legion, the name of the student section at Notre Dame home games, was in full force at the suite level. Eyes looking toward the east side of the stadium saw a group of nearly 100 Irish fans decked out in green. It was a crowd of Irish supporters who awakened the echoes and took with them the footballing energy of the Notre-Dame stadium.

Karl Peterson, an alumnus of the Irish program, was one of the organizers of the large Irish contingent.

“We knew Wednesday had the setup to be a breakout day and it did not disappoint,” he said. “We wanted to bring together a lot of the grassroots – alumni, parents, team swimmers and their friends and families. »

The “home base” that was created filled the stadium with cheers such as “IRISH” and “Let’s Go Irish” and even a small bell every time a swimmer representing Notre Dame was in the field. ‘water. Seeing the support is a feeling Guiliano always experiences.

“It’s a different type of emotion every time,” he said. “To see their support, to see them come down and really show up, it means everything to me.”

Speaking of the Irish faithful on Wednesday, Peterson added: “We thought it would be a good idea… we were wrong… it was an exceptional idea”

Janton added: “A lot of people were surprised that there was so much hype and fans around us, but that’s just the spirit of Notre Dame. That’s what we bring to the table when we go to a swim meet.

Peterson also wants them to know that they don’t intend to go anywhere.

“I was amazed at how many people came up to me to say something about Irish support,” he said. “I can only say ‘get used to it!'”

It should be noted that Chris Guiliano is the second man to qualify for the Olympics in swimming from Notre Dame, but the first to be a swimmer at Notre Dame and qualify. In 1912, Harry Hebner won three Olympic medals at the Stockholm Olympics and was a student at Notre Dame before the swimming program was established.