Notre Dame Backstroke Group a Key in Irish’s Continued Growth Under Chris Lindauer
Last season, the Notre Dame swimming and diving team entered a new era of coaching with former Louisville assistant Chris Lindauer at the helm. As the program begins its second season with this coaching staff, it is clear to see that several areas of the team have made great leaps in improvement, most notably the men’s backstroke group.
Backstroke Standouts
Last year, several Notre Dame freshmen made their mark at the conference and national levels, including backstrokers Marcus Gentry and Tommy Janton. Collectively, this group of Fighting Irish men was the highest scoring freshman class at the 2023 ACC Championships. Gentry, hailing from Central Point, Ore., broke out onto the collegiate backstroke scene at that meet. He won the C-final of the 100 back with a time of 46.21 and placed second in the 200 back C-final in 1:42.87.
Throughout his swimming career, Janton has consistently been a force to be reckoned with. The Pennsylvania native is a two-time YMCA National Champion and was named to the 2022-2023 USA National Junior Team. At the 2023 ACC Championships, Janton placed seventh in both the 100 back (45.97) and 200 back (1:41.44). He also was named the 2023 ACC Freshman of the Year. At the 2023 NCAA Championships, Janton earned All-American Honors in his respective events, going 45.12 in the 100 and 1:39.45 in the 200.
Photo Courtesy of Fighting Irish Media
This season, the men of the Fighting Irish brought in several fifth-year transfers, including two backstroke powerhouses from the Division III level: Liam McDonnell and Tanner Filion. McDonnell previously swam for John Carroll University, just outside Cleveland, Ohio. As a senior, the Michigan native placed fourth in the 100 fly (46.92) and second in the 100 back (49.59) at the D-III Championships. He also led off JCU’s 200 medley relay in 21.03, which is one-hundredth faster than Janton’s 50 backstroke split at the 2023 NCAA Championships.
Filion spent his first four years of his collegiate swimming career at Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. At the 2023 D-III Championships, Filion won the 200 back in a time of 1:41.17, breaking his own D-III record in the event. Additionally, he won the 100 back (45.75) and placed third in the 100 fly (46.83). Because of his performances, Filion was named the 2023 D-III Swimmer of the Year.
Future of the Program
So what does this mean for the future of Notre Dame’s program? Although Notre Dame lost Jack Hoagland, who was the team’s top NCAA scorer last year, the Irish still have Chris Guiliano, who is coming off a breakout year which included being named to his first U.S. National Team. The team has also gained fifth years Luka Cvetko (Wayne State) and Abdelrahman Elaraby (Louisville), both of whom are poised to make immediate impacts on Notre Dame’s relays. In regard to the Irish’s backstrokers, Notre Dame has brought on board freshman Caden Francois and Lucas Logue, who have the potential to elevate the already superb backstroke group.
With all this in mind, Notre Dame is surely on the rise as a program. Lindauer has started to build his own legacy, despite having only one season under his belt. It would not be surprising if the Fighting Irish men surpassed their 18th place finish at the 2023 NCAA Championships, which was their highest finish in school history. At last year’s ACC Championships, the Notre Dame men finished in fifth place. This year, they are expected to return 431.5 of their 799.5 points scored from the 2023 ACC Championships.
Elaraby, who won the 50 free at the 2023 ACC Championships, joins forces this season with Guiliano, so the storyline of Notre Dame’s sprint men should be one to follow in addition to their growing backstroke group. And with all these standout backstrokers training together for one season, this group could possibly be a game changer for Notre Dame.