Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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UNDER THE DOME Five Questions With … WOMEN'S SWIMMING COACH MIKE LITZINGER Mike Litzinger is in his first season as head coach of Notre Dame women's swimming and diving team. He joined the Irish after eight years at North Carolina, starting with the Tar Heels staff in 2007 before advancing to an associate head coach position in 2011. BGI: What does your average day consist of? Litzinger: "I hit Starbucks right on Ironwood Road at 5 a.m — then I'm usually the first one in the pool. We'll dive right in at 6 a.m. to around 7:45. "I'll get my own workout in, plus a little office work and a few meetings, then get the afternoon lifting and practice together. I'll wrap it up after 6 p.m." BGI: What brought you to Notre Dame this year? Litzinger: "What a great opportunity it is for me here. Notre Dame brought me out for an interview with the coaching opening, and I had to make a decision between staying the associate head coach at North Carolina or coming to Notre Dame. "It wasn't much of a choice; I had a little chat with my wife and on we were." BGI: How taxing are the workouts for swimmers? Litzinger: "We have a 20 hour a week rule with the NCAA, but we manage to get a lot done. It all depends on the specialty of the swimmers. "The upper-end of our group is around 13,000 to 14,000 yards a day, and the lower-end is anywhere from three-fourths of that to a half of that. It's a grind, but they take a lot of pride in it." BGI: How has the sport evolved throughout your coaching career? Litzinger: "The training has changed, it's gone more from quantity to quality. Especially in the NCAA format, it's a shorter pool, compared to the Olympic distance. So the training takes on a different form — power, strength, turn and detail work moves to the forefront. "It used to be, 'Let's see how many laps we can get in,' but now your lifting and dry-land program is a vital part of what you're doing." BGI: Is it a challenge so far convincing swimmers to come to a school based in colder climate? Litzinger: "There are some swimmers and divers that have a mindset they don't want to be in this climate, but no — at the end of the day, it's about the degree you're going to walk away with and the experience you'll have. "The recruiting class we just brought in, we had kids looking at the West Coast and Southeast, and we won those battles. It may play a small part, but this university sells itself." — Jordan Wells Litzinger is in his first year at Notre Dame after coaching at North Carolina from 2007‑15. PHOTO COURTESY NOTRE DAME SPORTS INFORMATION