Men's Swimming: Getting Ready for the Irish

NOTRE DAME SCOUTING REPORT:
No.22 Notre Dame comes into Evanston this weekend a bit of a mystery. Despite cracking the top-25, the Irish are 3-4 and have yet to produce a significant victory. Their victories have come against schools like Cleveland State, Oakland, and Pittsburgh, and they have fallen to prominent programs such as Minnesota, USC, and LSU, among others.
The prospect of facing Notre Dame this weekend is a scary one for the Wildcats because they really don’t know what to expect. In past years, the Irish have swam both brilliant and awful races against Northwestern, and there doesn’t seem to be a middle ground.
"It’s like facing a schizophrenic,” NU coach Bob Groseth said. “You just don’t know what you’re going to get.”
That being said, Notre Dame does possess some good swimmers. Sophomore Ross Moore is a force in 200 fly, setting the school record in the event at the Ohio State Invitational in November. Moore’s classmate John Lytle also has been a solid contributor for Notre Dame. His specialty is freestyle and he holds the school’s best times in the 50, 100, and 200 free. He should give NU swimmers some good races.
Where the Irish can really give the Cats problems is in diving. Junior Michael Bulfin made the NCAA Championships as a freshman and finished just short last year. He has continued his strong play this year and has become a source of guaranteed points for the Irish. NU counters with two of the best divers in the Big Ten, Ryan McIntosh and Alex Kiaie, but both will have to be at their best.
Given the unpredictability of this year’s Notre Dame team, NU will have to bear down and swim fast. As has been the case with the Irish in the past, the race will ultimately be decided by the efforts of the Cats’ secondary swimmers. If guys like Adam Beckman and John Franklin can post good times, NU will be in a good position to win.