Notre Dame adds Men's Swimming & Diving
SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – Notre Dame College today announced the addition of an 18th sports team to its growing Department of Athletics.  NDC will add Men’s Swimming & Diving, beginning in the 2008-09 academic year.  The Men’s team will be led by Mike Gallagher, who will be the head coach for both Men’s and Women’s Swimming & Diving.  The Falcons Women’s team was instituted in 2006.

The men’s and women’s teams will swim a common schedule.  Collegiate swimming & diving is a winter sport which runs from Oct. through Mar.  The 2008-09 season will be the inaugural season for the fledgling Falcon program.  Notre Dame has its own facility on its South Euclid, Ohio campus - the Mellen Pool, which plays host to NDC’s home events.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for swimmers in our area,” said Gallagher, who has led the NDC Women’s program since its inception.  “We’re excited about being able to compete as a combined men’s and women’s team in both regional and national events.”

Notre Dame’s newest team will compete as an independent in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), joining 22 other schools which feature Men’s Swimming.  Last season, NDC’s Women’s squad sent five athletes to the NAIA National Championships in San Antonio.  As a team, Notre Dame placed 13th.

Men’s Swimming becomes the 18th team in a growing and successful athletic department, one that just 10 years ago sponsored only five intercollegiate teams.  Last year, Notre Dame instituted Wrestling, in addition to Women’s Swimming.  Among its other 15 sports teams, nine posted their program’s best season record over the past 12 months.

Notre Dame’s athletic teams have drawn accolades and more student-athletes from Northeast Ohio and abroad as their teams have become more and more competitive each year.  In Notre Dame’s 2006-07 athletics seasons (fall, winter, spring), the Falcons’ teams ranked 69th in the nation (out of 217 NAIA schools) in a national all-sports ranking (Directors’ Cup published by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, NACDA).

“We’re excited to add Men’s Swimming & Diving at the College,” said Notre Dame Director of Athletics, Sue Hlavacek, who has overseen the growth of NDC Athletics since 1996.  “Our women’s swimming and diving program has been a success, and we’re looking forward to working with Mike and a new group of student-athletes next year.”

Notre Dame sports teams, 2008-09 (fall, winter, spring)

Notre Dame College is a co-educational liberal arts institution in South Euclid, Ohio. The Notre Dame Athletics Department sponsors the Falcons' participation in 17 men's and women's sports. The College is affiliated with the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) and the American Mideast Conference (AMC), which is the largest NAIA conference in the country.

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