{"id":294991,"date":"2018-02-11T08:00:50","date_gmt":"2018-02-11T15:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=294991"},"modified":"2018-02-10T17:16:06","modified_gmt":"2018-02-11T00:16:06","slug":"irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/","title":{"rendered":"Irish Rising: Notre Dame Swimming Setting Bedrock Under Mike Litzinger"},"content":{"rendered":"

Morning Splash<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0by David Rieder.<\/em><\/p>\n

Mike Litzinger<\/strong> remembers the first time the Notre Dame women\u2019s and men\u2019s teams swam a combined practice under his leadership: December 18, 2015.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was probably the best practice I\u2019ve seen our group do,\u201d he said. \u201cThe kids were excited. We were mixed in. It was a team practice.\u201d<\/p>\n

That day, Notre Dame had announced that then-men\u2019s head coach Matt Tallman<\/strong> was taking an indefinite leave of absence and that Litzinger, in his first year as head coach of the women\u2019s team after previously spending eight years as an assistant at North Carolina, would take over the men\u2019s program on an interim basis.<\/p>\n

During the first half of the 2015-16 season, the separation of the women\u2019s and men\u2019s teams had been foreign for Litzinger, who had always coached in combined programs. But at Notre Dame, the women and men had been split up for two decades. When all that suddenly changed in December, Litzinger and two assistants had 60 swimmers to manage.<\/p>\n

Despite the midseason change and limited staff, the Fighting Irish finished with a \u201cmodicum of success\u201d that year. Both teams finished seventh at both ACC championships, but neither scored a single point at either NCAA championships.<\/p>\n

But Litzinger, inspired by the positive energy he saw when the women and men first swam together, wanted to make the combined team a permanent fixture. In April, Irish athletic director Jack Swarbrick<\/strong> agreed, and he named Litzinger the full-time head coach of a combined program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Sure, it was a risk\u2014any sort of massive change is, especially after 20 years of doing things one way\u2014but Litzinger saw massive rewards down the line if the team would buy in. They did.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a culture shift that we had to implement with (Swarbrick\u2019s) support, and then the athletes had to buy into that,\u201d Litzinger said. \u201cThe men and women had been separated for so long that being together was exciting, new, but there was no real direction on which way we were going to go with this.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cTo all their credit, the kids completely bought into what my staff and I had seen, our vision of what we were going to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Right away, Litzinger stressed that his swimmers had to embrace the academic rigor of Notre Dame and had to buy into full-scale training over the summer. \u201cThat has to be part of the culture,\u201d he said, \u201cand you can never dumb it down or downplay it. It\u2019s required of you to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"notre-dame-swimming-team-excited\"

Photo Courtesy: Mike Miller\/Notre Dame<\/p><\/div>\n

Litzinger spoke of shifting \u201cfrom a Big East mentality to an ACC mentality.\u201d The Irish women and men had won conference titles in the old Big East, but when realignment put them into one of the country\u2019s deepest leagues, contending would take a lot more than in the past.<\/p>\n

But as an institution, the Irish were no stranger to athletic success\u2014Litzinger recalled standing next to men\u2019s basketball coach Mike Brey<\/strong> and Hall of Fame women\u2019s basketball coach Muffat McGraw<\/strong> at one of his first athletics staff meetings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m kind of the bum at the table,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ve got to up my game.<\/p>\n

The expectation was set: Being an also-ran in the ACC would not be good enough.<\/p>\n

===<\/p>\n

Very quickly, the Notre Dame men\u2019s team surged. At the end of Litzinger\u2019s first year coaching a combined program, the Irish finished 40 points ahead of Virginia Tech to finish third at the ACC championships.<\/p>\n

\"joe-coumos-notre-dame\"

Notre Dame diver Joe Coumos — Photo Courtesy: Mike Miller\/Notre Dame<\/p><\/div>\n

Sprinters Justin Plaschka<\/strong> (50 free) and Tabahn Afrik<\/strong> (100 free) each finished second individually, backstroker Rob Whitacre<\/strong> and breaststroker Trent Jackson<\/strong> each scored big, and Joe Coumos<\/strong> topped the 1-meter event for the Irish.<\/p>\n

One month later at NCAAs, the team finished 25th with 29 points total, 11 of them coming from Jackson\u2019s eighth-place finish in the 200 breast.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a miler when I got here,\u201d Litzinger said of Jackson. \u201cI turned him over and put him in the breaststroke group, and he went 52.2 and 1:53.5.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jackson graduated after that season, but the rest of Notre Dame\u2019s core returns. Whitacre and Coumos both narrowly missed scoring performances at the NCAA championships, and sprint relays led by Plaschka, Afrik and Daniel Speers<\/strong> should again score points at the national level.<\/p>\n

For conference championship purposes, expect the Irish and Florida State to have the best sprint relays in the ACC this side of NC State. Still, it\u2019s tough to see Notre Dame beating out either NC State or Louisville at the ACC championships, meaning a third or fourth-place finish is probably the ceiling for this year\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

That said, the Irish have added a potential difference-maker this year, a freshman who has quickly elevated himself into the nation\u2019s elite in the distance races.<\/p>\n

Heading into conference championship season, Zach Yeadon<\/strong> is ranked No. 7 in the country in both the 500 and 1650 free. All season, Yeadon has been the most consistent dual meet performer for his team, and his season-bests of 4:14.93 in the 500 and 14:47.18 in the mile would already have been good enough for fourth at last year\u2019s conference meet.<\/p>\n

Litzinger and distance group coach Aaron Bell<\/strong> have not been afraid to push their star freshman out of his comfort zone, and Yeadon has responded just has they had hoped.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to have those tough conversations with a guy like Zach about, \u2018Hey, what\u2019s the next step?\u2019 or \u2018Hey, you ready to double the 1000 and 200 free?\u2019\u201d Litzinger said. \u201cYou use it as a learning experience, as a tool to get better. He\u2019s very open to do whatever it takes. He\u2019s always like, \u2018Coach, if it\u2019s good for the team, I\u2019m doing it.\u2019 That\u2019s how he is.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Winning an individual ACC title as a freshman? Well, he could end up doing that, too.<\/p>\n

===<\/p>\n

As for the Notre Dame women, they have yet to finish higher than seventh at the ACC championships under Litzinger, but the team lost little of its key points from last year. All four of its individual conference finalists return: Junior backstroker Alice<\/strong> Treuth<\/strong>, junior breaststroker Meaghan<\/strong> O\u2019Donnell<\/strong>, sophomore flyer Erin Sheehan<\/strong> and sophomore freestyler Abbie<\/strong> Dolan<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Where Yeadon has been the ever-present double winner for the men at every Notre Dame dual meet for the men, Dolan has been that for the women. In fact, she took on her team\u2019s ace role very quickly as a freshman in the fall of 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw her swim a long time ago, right when I got the job at (Notre Dame during) a Sectional meet in Minnesota, and I really liked the way that she sat in the water,\u201d Litzinger recalled. \u201cI was thinking, \u2018This kid could be pretty good.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"abbie-dolan-notre-dame\"

Abbie Dolan — Photo Courtesy: Mike Miller\/Notre Dame<\/p><\/div>\n

As a freshman, Dolan finished fourth in the 200 free at the ACC championships, swimming as fast as 1:44.65 in that event and 48.01 on the Irish\u2019s 400 free relay. But she was sick throughout that entire meet\u2014with mononucleosis, it turned out.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe day after the ACCs, that Friday on the way home, she was a disaster, and then she sat out for 10 days leading up to NCAAs. She literally got in probably five or six days before NCAAs, and she still was able to crank out a 1:45 at the meet and split 48 on the relays,\u201d Litzinger said. \u201cThat tells you what type of talent the kid has.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dolan has no fear, according to her coach, and she won\u2019t back down from racing a swimmer with the pedigree of, say, Mallory Comerford<\/strong>. In the 200 free final at ACCs last year, Dolan tried to go out with Comerford and was only three tenths behind at the halfway point, but she fell apart over the final 75.<\/p>\n

But the next time the two raced head-to-head in a 200 free, at a much less consequential October dual meet, Dolan again took the race out hard and had enough to score a win over Comerford, 1:46.12 to 1:46.13.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Abbie, every day is new, and it\u2019s still new,\u201d Litzinger said. \u201cThis year, she\u2019s actually healthy, so it\u2019s still new. She\u2019s excited about what she can do, and she\u2019s excited about the process. I think the key is keeping her fresh, keeping her excited, keeping always a little carrot to chase out there for her.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

With Dolan at full strength and a supporting cast that includes freshman distance swimmer Lindsay<\/strong> Stone<\/strong>, the Irish women figure to jump up several spots in the conference rankings this season\u2014even if taking down NC State, Virginia or Louisville would be an extremely tall order.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think our women are poised to make the same kind of jump that our men did last year,\u201d Litzinger said. \u201cIt will be a little more difficult because I think (the women\u2019s meet) is deeper. You\u2019ve got Duke swimming well, and (Virginia) Tech\u2019s got older kids, and (North) Carolina\u2019s still got some really great athletes. It\u2019ll be a battle, but it\u2019s one that we\u2019re ready to take on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sure, a top-four or top-five finish at the ACC championships is not Litzinger\u2019s end goal, the limit of \u201cwhat I see as all the potential possibilities for Notre Dame,\u201d but it\u2019s a step towards the national relevance he\u2019s seeking for both his women and his men.<\/p>\n

After all, building a program to that sort of elite level takes time, but since the first time the women and men swam together back in the winter of 2015, Litzinger knew he had all he needed\u2014a group of athletes willing to buy in.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one batted an eyelash,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was game on from the very beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Morning Splash\u00a0by David Rieder. Mike Litzinger remembers the first time the Notre Dame women\u2019s and men\u2019s teams swam a combined practice under his leadership: December 18, 2015. \u201cIt was probably<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":294990,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,6,17,61052],"tags":[57864,46035,49364,33761,39933,25272,64145,5507,27668,31174,34071,33448,2818,32125,50420,44002,60127,66219,55324,44901,53461,44894,58559],"class_list":["post-294991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-college","category-commentary","category-morning-splash","tag-aaron-bell","tag-abbie-dolan","tag-acc-swimming","tag-alice-treuth","tag-daniel-speers","tag-david-rieder","tag-erin-sheehan","tag-jack-swarbrick","tag-joe-coumos","tag-justin-plaschka","tag-lindsay-stone","tag-mallory-comerford","tag-matt-tallman","tag-meaghan-odonnell","tag-mike-brey","tag-mike-litzinger","tag-morning-splash","tag-muffat-mcgraw","tag-notre-dame-swimming","tag-rob-whitacre","tag-tabahn-afrik","tag-trent-jackson","tag-zach-yeadon"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nIrish Rising: Notre Dame Swimming Setting Bedrock Under Mike Litzinger<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In his second full season leading a combined Notre Dame swimming program, Mike Litzinger is leading the Fighting Irish towards national recognition.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Irish Rising: Notre Dame Swimming Setting Bedrock Under Mike Litzinger\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In his second full season leading a combined Notre Dame swimming program, Mike Litzinger is leading the Fighting Irish towards national recognition.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-02-11T15:00:50+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-02-11T00:16:06+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mike-litzinger-notre-dame-morning-splash-1.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"683\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@David_Rieder\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"8 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af\"},\"headline\":\"Irish Rising: Notre Dame Swimming Setting Bedrock Under Mike Litzinger\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-11T15:00:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-11T00:16:06+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/\"},\"wordCount\":1669,\"commentCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mike-litzinger-notre-dame-morning-splash-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Aaron Bell\",\"Abbie Dolan\",\"ACC Swimming\",\"Alice Treuth\",\"Daniel Speers\",\"David Rieder\",\"Erin Sheehan\",\"Jack Swarbrick\",\"Joe Coumos\",\"Justin Plaschka\",\"Lindsay Stone\",\"Mallory Comerford\",\"Matt Tallman\",\"Meaghan O'Donnell\",\"Mike Brey\",\"Mike Litzinger\",\"Morning Splash\",\"Muffat McGraw\",\"Notre Dame Swimming\",\"Rob Whitacre\",\"Tabahn Afrik\",\"Trent Jackson\",\"Zach Yeadon\"],\"articleSection\":[\"-Home Slider\",\"College\",\"Commentary\",\"Morning Splash By David Rieder\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/\",\"name\":\"Irish Rising: Notre Dame Swimming Setting Bedrock Under Mike Litzinger\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mike-litzinger-notre-dame-morning-splash-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-02-11T15:00:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-02-11T00:16:06+00:00\",\"description\":\"In his second full season leading a combined Notre Dame swimming program, Mike Litzinger is leading the Fighting Irish towards national recognition.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mike-litzinger-notre-dame-morning-splash-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mike-litzinger-notre-dame-morning-splash-1.jpg\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":683,\"caption\":\"Photo Courtesy: Marcus Snowden\/Notre Dame\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Irish Rising: Notre Dame Swimming Setting Bedrock Under Mike Litzinger\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"description\":\"The Global Leader in Aquatic News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"width\":1799,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Swimming World\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af\",\"name\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"David Rieder - Senior Writer\"},\"description\":\"David Rieder is a staff writer for Swimming World. He has contributed to the magazine and website since 2009, and he has covered the NCAA Championships, U.S. Nationals, Olympic Trials as well as the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and the 2017 World Championships in Budapest. He is a native of Charleston, S.C., and a 2016 graduate of Duke University.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/x.com\/David_Rieder\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/davidr\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Irish Rising: Notre Dame Swimming Setting Bedrock Under Mike Litzinger","description":"In his second full season leading a combined Notre Dame swimming program, Mike Litzinger is leading the Fighting Irish towards national recognition.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Irish Rising: Notre Dame Swimming Setting Bedrock Under Mike Litzinger","og_description":"In his second full season leading a combined Notre Dame swimming program, Mike Litzinger is leading the Fighting Irish towards national recognition.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/","og_site_name":"Swimming World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","article_published_time":"2018-02-11T15:00:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-02-11T00:16:06+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":683,"url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mike-litzinger-notre-dame-morning-splash-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@David_Rieder","twitter_site":"@swimmingworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","Est. reading time":"8 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/"},"author":{"name":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af"},"headline":"Irish Rising: Notre Dame Swimming Setting Bedrock Under Mike Litzinger","datePublished":"2018-02-11T15:00:50+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-11T00:16:06+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/"},"wordCount":1669,"commentCount":6,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mike-litzinger-notre-dame-morning-splash-1.jpg","keywords":["Aaron Bell","Abbie Dolan","ACC Swimming","Alice Treuth","Daniel Speers","David Rieder","Erin Sheehan","Jack Swarbrick","Joe Coumos","Justin Plaschka","Lindsay Stone","Mallory Comerford","Matt Tallman","Meaghan O'Donnell","Mike Brey","Mike Litzinger","Morning Splash","Muffat McGraw","Notre Dame Swimming","Rob Whitacre","Tabahn Afrik","Trent Jackson","Zach Yeadon"],"articleSection":["-Home Slider","College","Commentary","Morning Splash By David Rieder"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/","name":"Irish Rising: Notre Dame Swimming Setting Bedrock Under Mike Litzinger","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mike-litzinger-notre-dame-morning-splash-1.jpg","datePublished":"2018-02-11T15:00:50+00:00","dateModified":"2018-02-11T00:16:06+00:00","description":"In his second full season leading a combined Notre Dame swimming program, Mike Litzinger is leading the Fighting Irish towards national recognition.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mike-litzinger-notre-dame-morning-splash-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mike-litzinger-notre-dame-morning-splash-1.jpg","width":1024,"height":683,"caption":"Photo Courtesy: Marcus Snowden\/Notre Dame"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/irish-rising-notre-dame-swimming-setting-bedrock-under-mike-litzinger\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Irish Rising: Notre Dame Swimming Setting Bedrock Under Mike Litzinger"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","name":"Swimming World","description":"The Global Leader in Aquatic News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Swimming World","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","width":1799,"height":900,"caption":"Swimming World"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld","https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/610dd0484edf5c4dba59e62a7e5b89af","name":"David Rieder - Senior Writer","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/771e0586ce6532b0e16f68a06c9bd273?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"David Rieder - Senior Writer"},"description":"David Rieder is a staff writer for Swimming World. He has contributed to the magazine and website since 2009, and he has covered the NCAA Championships, U.S. Nationals, Olympic Trials as well as the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio and the 2017 World Championships in Budapest. He is a native of Charleston, S.C., and a 2016 graduate of Duke University.","sameAs":["https:\/\/x.com\/David_Rieder"],"url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/davidr\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"Photo Courtesy: Marcus Snowden\/Notre Dame","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/mike-litzinger-notre-dame-morning-splash-1.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p56Jja-1eJV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=294991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/294991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=294991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=294991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=294991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}