Tommy Janton, a 2022 graduate of Salesianum School, recently capped his freshman year at the University of Notre Dame by being named the Atlantic Coast Conference Freshman of the Year in men’s swimming.
Janton was spectacular in his first season with the Fighting Irish. He set program records in two events, the 100-yard and 200-yard backstroke, and was part of the 100-yard medley relay team that also set a Notre Dame standard. He competed in four events at the NCAA championships. His times in the 100- and 200-meter back at the 2022 U.S. Toyota Open qualified him for the Olympic Trials next year. He qualified once before in the same events while a junior at Salesianum.
In addition to his conference honors, Janton was named Notre Dame’s Rookie of the Year. He is also a member of the 2023 All-ACC Academic Team and an honorable mention all-American in the 100 and 200 back.
Janton, who swam for the Wahoos at the Western YMCA for several years, helped the Sals to state championships all four years he was on the team. He won the 100-yard butterfly and the 100 back, and he was a member of two winning relay teams, as a sophomore, junior and senior. As a freshman, he was on two state-championship relay teams, and he finished second in the butterfly, fourth in the backstroke.
An economics major, Janton also earned a spot on the ACC’s all-academic team this year. Athletes must maintain a 3.0 grade-point average for the previous semester, as well as a 3.0 over the course of his or her academic career. They also must have competed in the most recent ACC or NCAA championships.
Notre Dame finished in 18th place in the 2023 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships in Minneapolis.
Janton is not the only Diocese of Wilmington product on the Fighting Irish’s roster. Tyler Christianson, a 2020 graduate of Ss. Peter and Paul High School in Easton, Md., is ranked in the top 10 in Notre Dame history in four events: the 100-yard breaststroke, the 200-yard breaststroke, the 200-yard individual medley, and the 400-yard IM. He swam for Panama in the 2020 Summer Olympics, which were held in 2021 after being postponed a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
