Team Cardinal Heads to Pan American Games
July 10, 2015 | Swimming & Diving
The University of Louisville Swimming team will have four representatives to the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto. The foursome arrived in Canada this morning.
UofL head coach Arthur Albiero, a member of the USA Coaching Staff, said, "It's personal for us. We are a family with a heartbeat. It's Team Cardinal. But now it is Team USA as well."
Junior Kelsi Worrell, American Record Holder and two-time NCAA Champion will represent the United States.
"I've been dreaming about being on the USA National team my whole life," Worrell said. "To have my last name on the side of a USA cap is a dream come true."
Three-time NCAA Champion and 2012 Olympian, Cardinal alum Joao De Lucca, will represent his native Brazil with an eye on a spot on the Brazilian team next year when his hometown hosts the 2016 Olympics.
"We are all hunting the same prey, a spot on the Brazilian Team looking forward to the 2016 Olympics. When I put my country's flag on my chest, I feel invincible. I still get goosebumps thinking about it," said De Lucca.
Rising sophomore Carlos Claverie will represent Venezuela at the games in his second appearance at the Pan Ams.
"I went to my first Pan Am Games when I was 14 years old in Guadalajara, Mexico. I was just a little kid seeing all my swimming idols. But now I am actually able to race them," said Claverie.
There are 40 swimmer representing Team USA and the swimming competition begins Saturday with the women's open water 10-kilometer event in Toronto's Ontario Place West Channel, followed by the men Sunday. Both races are slated for 3:30 p.m. EDT. The pool competition runs July 14-18 at the CIBC Pan Am/Parapan Am Aquatics Centre with daily prelims at 10 a.m. EDT and finals at 7 p.m. EDT.
In the United States, ESPN will offer extensive broadcast coverage across its various platforms, including live webcast coverage of swimming in its entirety on ESPN3.
The U.S. roster features eight swimmers with Olympic experience, including three-time Olympians and gold medalists. They will swim at the CIBC Pan Am / Parapan Am Aquatics Centre and Field House. The facility is the largest sport new-build for the Games and the largest investment ever in Canadian amateur sport history. The Aquatics Centre includes two internationally sanctioned 10-lane, 50-metre pools (including bulkheads); a 5-metre deep diving tank with 3-metre, 5-metre, 7.5-metre and 10-metre platforms; and dry-land dive training facilities.
Meet the Cardinal Contigent
Head Coach Arthur Albiero
Coach Albiero will be on the American coaching staff for the Pan Am Games. A three time conference Coach of the Year, Albiero was won National Coach of the Year honors twice, including this year when the UofL women soared to a school record 5th place finish at the NCAA Championships. He coached for Romania in the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and for Portugal in the London Olympics in 2012. A newly minted American, he has coached 37 Cardinal swimmers to All-American honors. He has coached three swimmers to six NCAA National Championships (Carlos Almeida, Joao DeLucca and Kelsi Worrell).
Kelsi Worrell | Rising Senior | Butterfly | Mt. Holly, N.J.
Kelsi Worrell is the 2015 NCAA Champion in the 100 and 200 butterfly, setting the American and NCAA record in the 100 butterfly. She earned All-American status in three individual events and three relays. She was also named the Atlantic Coast Conference Swimmer of the Year as the champion in the 100 butterfly and 100 freestyle, setting ACC records in both events at the ACC women's swimming and diving championships. She was a two-time ACC Swimmer of the Week and last fall, Kelsi was named to the US National Team for the 2015 Pan American Games and is a Honda Award Finalist. Kelsi has been named to the Athletic Director's Honor Roll every semester, a Red & Black Scholar-Athlete three times and a two-time CSCAA Scholar All-American. As a junior Exercise Science major, she is a three-time Dean's List recipient, the 2015 Atlantic Coast Conference Women's Swimming & Diving Scholar-Athlete of the Year and an Academic All-American.
Joao De Lucca | Graduate | Freestyle | Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Joao De Lucca added two more individual NCAA National Championships to his resume at the 2014 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships. He won the 100- and 200-freestyle events to defend his 2013 title in the 200-freestyle. De Lucca is the first swimmer since 1995 to sweep the 100- and 200-freestyle disciplines at the National Championships. He went to the London Olympics in 2012 and has extensive international experience having competed and medalled in the World Championships in 2011 (Shanghai), 2013 (Barcelona), 2014 (Doha, Qatar).
Carlos Claverie |Rising Sophomore | Breaststroke | Caracas, Venezuela
A World Junior Champion medallist, Carlos Claverie made a big impact as a freshman for the Cardinals. A bronze medallist in the ACC Championship in the 200-breast, Claverie qualified for the NCAAs. An accomplished LCM swimmer, this spring, he swept the breaststroke events at the Mesa Grand Prix (Arena Pro Series). Carlos was a triple medalist at the Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing 2014. He was also the South American champion as well as the Central American champion. He also qualified for the Barcelona 2013 World Championships. He holds the Venezuelan national record in the 200-breast.
Events
http://www.toronto2015.org/0/swimming-schedule
? Joao De Lucca will swim 200 freestyle, 800 free relay, 200 free relay and 400 free relay
? Carlos Claverie will swim the 100 breast, 200 breast, and 200 IM
? Kelsi Worrell will swim the 100 fly, 400 medley relay and possibly the 400 free relay.
Venue
The CIBC Pan Am / Parapan Am Aquatics Centre and Field House is the largest sport new-build for the Games and the largest investment ever in Canadian amateur sport history. The Aquatics Centre includes two internationally sanctioned 10-lane, 50-metre pools (including bulkheads); a 5-metre deep diving tank with 3-metre, 5-metre, 7.5-metre and 10-metre platforms; and dry-land dive training facilities.
Players Mentioned
