LOUISVILLE, Kentucky, February 3. IN the final dual meet of the 2006-07 season, the 17th-ranked Notre Dame men's swimming and diving team captured a 147-94 victory over BIG EAST rival Louisville on Saturday afternoon in the Ralph Wright Natatorium. The Fighting Irish won seven of the 13 events to move their record to 11-3 on the campaign.
Sophomore Jeff Wood (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport/Indiana) and freshman Andrew Hoffman (Ft. Wayne, Ind./Homestead) helped the Irish to the victory as they captured wins in the 200-yard back (1:51.04) and the 200-yard free (1:41.58), respectively, along with being a part of the winning 400-yard freestyle relay unit (3:04.81). Joining them on the relay were freshman John Lytle (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield Area) and senior co-captain Ted Brown (Kokomo, Ind./Western).
Junior diver Steven Crowe (Brockport, N.Y./Brockport) had a personal-best day off of the three-meter board as he registered 352.28 points to take the win. Fellow diver Michael Bulfin (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas) won his ninth event of the season by taking the one-meter competition with a point total of 333.53.
Also winning for the Irish were freshman Andrew Deters (Claremont, Calif./Claremont) in the 1,000-yard free in a team season-best time of 9:25.35. Senior Brian Freeman (Sanger, Calif./Immanuel) won the 500 free in 4:40.72.
The Irish will return to the pool when they look to defend their 2005 and 2006 BIG EAST titles. The 2007 BIG EAST Swimming and Diving Championships will take place Feb. 14-17 in the Nassau County Aquatic Center in East Meadow, N.Y.