Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM AUGUST 2024 41 Constructed specifically for the Olym- pic Trials, the swimming venue inside Lucas Oil Stadium held a capacity crowd of nearly 30,000. And there weren't many empty seats. "I try to keep my mind off it as much as I can, aside from when I actually put my head on the pillow at night and I start thinking about it," Guiliano told the South Bend Tribune. "I try to put the perfect visualization together." THE WATER'S FINE Guiliano's remarkable road to Paris seems about as unlikely as him taking up swimming in the first place. Tagging along with his older brother to a nearby pool on a hot summer day back home outside of Philadelphia, Guiliano — an 8-year-old at the time — hopped in, immediately found a new passion for swimming, put basketball, football and soccer aside, and in many respects, he hasn't left the water since. A few years and countless hours of training later, Guiliano became a three- time team most valuable swimmer at Daniel Boone High School, a first-team all-state selection, and a three-time prep All-American. The rising star set five high school re- cords for the Blazers then and could've picked his spot on where to swim col- legiately. But it was Notre Dame — far from a swimming power — that always topped his wish list, all the way back to grade school. "I chose Notre Dame because of the family atmosphere pro- vided by the student-athletes, coaches and staff," said Guiliano, an economics major who's on pace to graduate next spring. "It was awesome to learn about the rich history, premier academics and athletics, alongside the life- time opportunities from Notre Dame. I believe it was a perfect fit for my family and me. I grew up dreaming to be a part of this university." And now, Guiliano has almost single-handedly changed the narrative around Fighting Irish swimming after leading the pro- gram to a 10th-place national finish this season, the best in school history. Already the university record holder in five individual events — the 50-, 100- and 200-yard freestyle, and the 50- and 100-meter freestyle races — Guiliano won four championships at the ACC Championships in February. Along the way this season, Guiliano also earned All-America honors in six events, five first-team and one honorable mention. Now, all roads lead to Paris, and in many respects, Guiliano is play- ing with house money after his stunning and spectacular performances in India- napolis. Trusting his training and staying clear of expectations — that's the formula Guiliano will use in Paris as a first-time Olympian. "I've dreamed of the Olympics ever since I started swimming competitively," Guiliano said. "And to be on the team and compete with people that I've looked up to is a very special opportunity." And a well-deserved one. Indoor swimming will take place dur- ing the first week of the Paris Games from July 27-Aug. 4. ✦ Off To Paris Sixteen Irish athletes and two Notre Dame coaches will represent six countries in the upcoming 2024 Paris Summer Olympics. Athletes Country Event Natalie Achonwa Canada Women's Basketball Korbin Albert USA Women's Soccer Amita Berthier Singapore Fencing Molly Bruggeman USA Women's Rowing Tyler Christianson Panama Men's Swimming Lauren Ebo Nigeria Women's Basketball Chris Guiliano USA Men's Swimming Nick Itkin USA Fencing Lee Kiefer USA Fencing Jewell Loyd USA Women's Basketball Gerek Meinhardt USA Fencing Eszter Muhari Hungary Fencing Yared Nuguse USA Track Cassandre Prosper Canada Women's Basketball Magda Skarbonkiewicz USA Fencing Jackie Young USA Women's Basketball Coaches Country Event Chris Lindauer USA Swimming Cedric Loiseau USA Fencing As An Encore Following are the five returning Notre Dame Olympians who won medals at the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games and will compete again in Paris in the coming weeks. Jewell Loyd (2012-15): The Lincolnwood, Ill., native made her first Olympic appearance at the Tokyo Games and struck gold with the U.S. women's basketball team, the seventh straight gold medal for the American women in the event. Jackie Young (2016-19): The Princeton, Ind., native made her Olympic debut in Tokyo as a member of the gold-medal winning 3-on-3 U.S. women's basketball team in the inaugural year for the event. Young will be a member of the full U.S. women's basketball team in Paris. Lee Kiefer (2013-17): The Cleveland native is making her fourth Olympic appearance. In Tokyo, Kiefer became the first U.S. fencer, male or female, ever to win a gold medal in the foil competition. Gerek Meinhardt (2009-14): The San Fran- cisco native is making his fifth Olympic ap- pearance. He was a member of the third-place U.S. men's foil team in Tokyo, and he also won bronze in the same event at the 2016 Rio Games. Nick Itkin (2017-21): The Los Angeles native was an Olympic foil teammate of Meinhardt's in Tokyo, and he also brought home a bronze medal from Japan in the team event. This will be Itkin's second Olympic appearance.