Swimming heads to TYR Pro Swim Series in Austin

Louisville Swimming & Diving v Tennessee

January 10, 2018 | Swimming & Diving

24 Cards will return to racing in elite meet

By: Nancy Worley

After a month long break from competition, the University of Louisville men's and women's swimming teams will send 24 swimmers to Austin, Texas to face off against the world's best at the TYR Pro Swim Series. The meet is slated to begin on Thursday, January 11 at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center and will continue through Sunday, January 14.

The TYR Pro Swim Series at Austin is the first of six stops for the series and will be swum in long course meters. Prelims will kick off at 9 a.m. CT Thursday through Saturday with finals beginning at 6 p.m. CT on Thursday and 5:40 p.m. CT on Friday and Saturday. Thursday and Friday will be conducted in the traditional prelims/finals format with the top 16 swimmers from prelims advancing to the 'A' and 'B' finals. On Saturday, the 400 free will have two heats of finals with the addition of a "shoot-out style final" for the 50 meter events. The competition concludes on Sunday at 8 a.m. CT with the timed finals of the men's and women's 1500 meter free.

Last time out, the No. 8 women and the No. 14 men combined to top the standings at the 2017 Winter National Championships. As a team, the Cardinals posted 29 top-three finishes and secured three school records. Mallory Comerford, who won the Women's High Point award as a result of podium finishes in all five of her individual events, teamed with Lainey Visscher, Avery Braunecker, and Casey Fanz to break the 200 free relay record with an NCAA 'A' time of 1:27.50. Individually, Sophie Cattermole smashed her own record in the mile with a time of 16:02.36. Cattermole also had a hand in the Cardinals' school record tying 800 free relay, combining with Comerford, Arina Openysheva, and Rachael Bradford-Feldman to earn an NCAA 'A' cut time of 6:58.41.

At the midway point of the season, the Cardinals boast 14 individual swims and five relays inside the top-10 of Division I. On the women's side, Comerford owns nation leading times in the 100 free (46.70) and 200 free (1:41.17), as well as the fourth-ranked time in the 100 fly (50.92), fifth-ranked time in the 500 free (4:35.78), and the sixth-ranked time in the 50 free (21.87). Grace Oglesby also has multiple events ranked within the top-10 with the No. 7 times in both the 100 (51.69) and 200 fly (1:54.28). Other Cardinals in the top-10 are Cattermole with the No. 8 time in the 1650 (16:02.36), Fanz with the No. 10 time in the 50 free (22.04), and Mariia Astashkina with the No. 10 time in the 100 breast (59.71). All five of the Cardinals' relays are also ranked in the top-10, highlighted by the second-ranked 200 free (1:27.50) and 800 free (6:58.41) relays.

On the men's side, Carlos Claverie and Marcelo Acosta each have two swims that rank in the top-10 of Division I. Claverie holds the second fastest time in the nation in the 200 breast with a time of 1:53.10 and the No. 9 time in the 100 breast (52.83). Acosta owns the fifth-ranked time in the 1000 free (8:57.04), as well as the sixth-ranked time in the 1650 free (14:45.42).

NBC Sports will provide live coverage of the TYR Pro Swim Series at Austin on the NBC Sports App on Thursday, and on live television on NBC Sports Network on Friday and the Olympic Channel on Saturday. Each finals broadcast will begin at 7 p.m. ET. A live webcast of prelims will be available online at usaswimming.org.

Swimming for the Cards will be: Marcelo Acosta, Nick Albiero, Mariia Astashkina, Andrej Barna, Graham Barrett, Rachael Bradford Feldman, Sophie Cattermole, Carlos Claverie, Casey Fanz, Morgan Friesen, Nastja Govejsek, Etay Gurevich, Zach Harting, Lauren James, Jarrett Jones, Alina Kendzior, Carley Lowe, Grace Oglesby, Ashlyn Schoof, T.C. Smith, Nikkos Sofianidis, Daniel Sos, and Lainey Visscher.

151733