In a clash of top-25 teams, No. 21 Northwestern overcame a four-point deficit in the final race to defeat No. 25 Notre Dame 178-173. The Wildcats (8-2, 1-2 Big Ten) also defeated Toledo (255-86) in the double-dual meet Saturday at the Sports Pavilion and Aquatics Center.
Notre Dame held a slim 169-165 advantage over Northwestern heading into the 400-yard freestyle relay, the last race of the evening, but NU anchor Kassia Shishkoff was able to hold off the hard-charging Irish to secure the win.
“I wasn’t too nervous before the race,” Shishkoff said. “I watched the first swimmer, Emily Wong, and she was just really far ahead. And then they started gaining up on us, and I was getting more and more nervous.”
Throughout the final leg, Notre Dame’s Amywren Miller, who won the 50-yard freestyle earlier in the day, kept gaining, swimming faster splits than Shishkoff the entire way. At the final turn, Shishkoff’s lead had been closed to less than a second.
“The last 25 (yards), I just didn’t look, just went as fast as I could, and jammed my finger at the wall, because I had to make sure we won,” Shishkoff said. “Because if we didn’t win, we were going to lose the meet.”
It was the fourth time during the meet that Shishkoff touched the wall first. She also won the 500-yard freestyle and the 200- and 400-yard individual medleys.
“Kassia’s a fabulous racer,” said Jimmy Tierney, NU’s women’s swimming coach. “I’ll put my money on her any time when we really need it. We just rely on her, because she has a will to win that’s at such a high level. She’s a tough, tough racer and she knows when it’s needed and she’s ready to rise up.”
The meet was organized into two sessions, with eight of the 17 swimming events taking place in the morning session and the rest of the swimming and the two diving events taking place in the evening. The Wildcats jumped out to early leads over both Notre Dame and Toledo. By the end of the first session, NU had complete control over the dual meet against Toledo and held an 87-61 lead on Notre Dame.
The Wildcats extended their lead over the Irish to 35 points early in the evening, but watched Notre Dame methodically chip away. With only three races left in the Notre Dame took its first lead of the evening session, 151-145, when diving scores were announced.
“They have a deep, talented diving squad,” said Tierney about the Irish. “And we only had one diver healthy enough to compete, so I knew they were going to make a run at us, but I didn’t know it was going to be that tight.”
Notre Dame kept control of the lead until Shishkoff and the Wildcats won the evening’s final race.
“I just was trying to get to the wall first,” said Shishkoff. “I was just relieved. I was exhausted, but I was just so relieved, because I wouldn’t want to let the team down like that.”
