Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1047749
56 NOV. 12, 2018 BLUE & GOLD ILLUSTRATED ND SPORTS BY TODD D. BURLAGE Z ach Yeadon admits that before he made his official recruiting trip to Notre Dame while still in high school back home in San Antonio that he had never even set foot in the state of Indiana. A couple years later, the sopho- more Irish swimming star calls Indi- ana his new home, and what a splash this distance ace has already made. By the time Yeadon's freshman season was complete last school year, the lanky 6-5 freestyler had set Notre Dame school records in the 500 (4:12.74), the 1,000 (8:51.16) and the 1,650 (14:34.60) events. "You see freshmen come in, and sometimes it takes them a year to fig- ure it out," said Irish assistant swim- ming coach Aaron Bell, an expert dis- tance teacher who Yeadon calls a key reason why he came to Notre Dame. "When Zach came in, he adapted to the new training, and we had a really good connection right out of the gate. "From the first meet that we had last year, he asserted himself as a player in the NCAA, not just in the Atlantic Coast Conference." In addition to shattering school re- cords last season, Yeadon also equaled the best finish ever for an Irish swim- mer at the NCAA Championships with a fourth-place showing in the 1,650 freestyle, making him a first-team All-American and Notre Dame's Most Valuable Swimmer for the season. "I knew I would be competitive, but I didn't expect to have that kind of success so quickly," Yeadon said. "The coaches and the training methods helped me make big improvements." Rapid improvement has defined Yeadon's swimming career, all the way back to his years at Ronald Reagan High School, when he steadily shaved more than 20 seconds off his 500-me- ter time. It was an event he earned consecutive runner-up finishes at the Texas 6A state championships as a sophomore and junior before winning as a senior in February 2017 — the last individual race of his prep career. More recently, Yeadon earned a chance to compete on the world stage when he placed fourth in the 400-meter freestyle at the Phillips 66 Summer National Championships in Irvine, Calif. — a placement that won him a place on the U.S. National Team for the 2019 World University Games next July in Naples, Italy. "That was a big deal," said Yeadon, who was seeded eighth in the final and was expected to finish outside the top four, the cutoff point for a place on the U.S. National Team. "This gives me a chance to swim at Zach Yeadon Is Shattering Irish Swimming Standards Yeadon set school records in the 500 freestyle (4:12.74), the 1,000 freestyle (8:51.16) and the 1,650 freestyle (14:34.60) during his freshman season last year. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH DIGITAL MEDIA For the first time ever, Notre Dame will play an outside home game in Notre Dame Stadium on Jan. 5, 2019, when Michigan come to town. The contest — which will mark the third outdoor game in the modern era of Notre Dame hockey —will be played four days after the Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium, which will fea- ture the NHL's Chicago Blackhawks and Boston Bruins. The Irish took a 2-1 decision over Miami (Ohio) on Feb. 18, 2013, at Chi- cago's Soldier Field, and fell to Boston College 4-3 a season later at Fenway Park in Boston. Notre Dame head coach Jeff Jackson said the team is fired up for the opportunity. "We're extremely excited," Jackson said. "We're pleased that the NHL has enabled us to do this. It's something that's been talked about ever since they put the field turf in the stadium. "I know [athletics director] Jack Swarbrick has always said that's something we want to try to achieve." Jackson added that with the NHL game being played just four days before, it was a perfect time to fulfill a longtime goal for his program. "With the Winter Classic being at the stadium, it's only natural that we get a chance to play in the stadium," Jackson said. "It's going to be a once-in-a-life- time type of thing. "It's certainly the first, and maybe the last. It will be a great experience for our guys. I'm hoping that Notre Dame alumni, football fans, everybody … gets involved and comes to tailgate and make it a great experience." Currently, Notre Dame and Michigan are both top-15 teams at No. 5 and No. 12, respectively. Jackson said he wants to make sure Wolverine fans don't take over the stadium. "Michigan is already pumping it out there trying to get Michigan fans in the stadium," Jackson said. "I don't want to have more Michigan fans than Notre Dame fans in our own building. We need to get people out." — David McKinney Notre Dame Hockey Set To 'Take It Outside' Notre Dame played its first outdoor game versus Miami (Ohio) at Soldier Field in Chicago in 2013. This year's matchup with Michigan Jan. 5 will mark the first one at Notre Dame Stadium for the Fighting Irish. PHOTO COURTESY FIGHTING IRISH DIGITAL MEDIA