Cardinals Earn Three Titles on the Opening Night of the 2017 Winter National Championships

Cardinals Earn Three Titles on the Opening Night of the 2017 Winter National Championships

November 29, 2017 | Swimming & Diving

Two Louisville relays earned automatic NCAA qualifying times.

By: Kylie Klotzbach

The University of Louisville men's and women's swimming teams kicked off a successful first night of the 2017 Winter National Championships, earning victories in three of the evening's four events.

In the opening event of the meet, the Louisville women's 'A' and 'B' relay teams posted a 1-2 finish in the 200 medley relay. The 'A' team of Alina Kendzior (24.70), Mariia Astashkina (27.47), Nastja Govejsek (23.24), and Casey Fanz (21.45) raced to an automatic NCAA qualifying time of 1:36.86 to capture the first championship of the evening, while Ashlyn Schoof (24.89), Avery Braunecker (27.75), Grace Oglesby (23.47), and Lainey Visscher (21.84) placed second with a 1:37.95.

On the men's side, Nicolas Albiero (21.99), Carlos Claverie (23.45), Zach Harting (21.19), and Andrej Barna (19.16) finished second in the 200 medley relay with a time of 1:25.79 behind the California Aquatics team, which featured four Olympians. The Louisville 'B' team of Nikolaos Sofianidis (22.10), Jonathan Zoucha (24.72), Spencer Carl (22.53), and Mate Kovacs (19.84) combined for a fifth place finish with a 1:29.19.

Completing the sweep of the evening's relays, the Lady Cards' 'A' 800 free relay team of Arina Openysheva (1:46.31), Mallory Comerford (1:41.67), Sophie Cattermole (1:44.89), and Rachael Bradford-Feldman (1:45.54) touched the wall in a swift 6:58.41, earning their second consecutive title, another automatic NCAA qualifying time, and tying the school record. The The Louisville 'B' team of Rachel Grooms (1:46.20), Fanz (1:46.21), Gracie Long (1:48.20), and Emily Moser (1:49.74) also posted a podium finish, placing third with a 7:10.35.

The men followed up with a victory of their own in the 800 free relay as Barna (1:35.89), Albiero (1:35.31), Samuel Steele (1:35.40), and Harting (1:35.42) swam to the win in a time of 6:22.02. The 'B' 800 free relay team of Etay Gurevich (1:38.43), Jarrett Jones (1:35.74), Marcelo Acosta (1:34.87), and Zoucha (1:37.32) capped off the first evening of competition with a third place finish (6:26.36).

The Cardinals will return to the pool for the second day of the 2017 Winter National Championships tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. ET with the prelims of the 500 free, 200 IM, and 50 free.