Cardinals Set Two Records on Third Night of NCAA Championships

Friday, March 29

Austin, Texas

All Day

University of Louisville

Men's NCAA Championships

Nick Albiero stands on the podium at the NCAA Championships.

Photo by: Justin Casterline

Cardinals Set Two Records on Third Night of NCAA Championships

March 29, 2019 | Swimming & Diving

Saturday Prelims Heat Sheet Friday Finals Results

Nick Albiero broke the 100 fly record and Evgenii Somov broke the 100 breast.

By: Kylie Klotzbach

AUSTIN, Texas – Two school records fell on the third night of competition at the NCAA Championships as the University of Louisville men's swimming and diving team competed in all six events, including four A finals on Friday evening at the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center.

The Cardinals scored 78 points on the evening to move past Florida into fifth place with 149 points. California (372) holds the lead heading into the final day of the meet, followed by Texas (329), Indiana (277.5) and NC State (215).

"I'm proud of the way we fought this morning, that's what tonight was a result of," said UofL head coach Arthur Albiero. "We had a great morning session and set ourselves up to get people in second swim positions, that's the most important thing about this meet. Because of the morning session that we had, we were able to capitalize on a great evening session. We had some great finishes, including a fifth place in the relay, just missing the school record. Overall, the swims that we put together today were very impressive. The group was ready to go this morning, and that's precisely what we need to do next. We have to take care of business tomorrow morning, the only session that matters now, and we're excited for it."

In the 100 fly, Nicolas Albiero ran down the field over the final 25 yards to win the B final in a school record time of 45.14. With the ninth place finish, he collected his first Honorable Mention All-American honors in the event and became the highest finisher in program history in the 100 fly.

Just 40 minutes later, Albiero returned to the pool for the A final of the 100 back. He registered a time of 45.08, placing sixth and establishing himself as a two-time All-American in the event.

Evgenii Somov also set a school record in the 100 breast, finishing seventh in the A final with a time of 51.77 to earn All-American status in the event for the second straight season. The junior's time broke the oldest record in the books, which was set by Carlos Almeida at the 2012 NCAA Championships.

Swimming in the first individual A final of his career, Zach Harting lowered his time from the preliminaries of the 200 free to finish sixth with a time of 1:32.24 and earn All-American honors. The senior's sixth place finish marked the highest finish for the Cards in the 200 free since 2014.

Mitchell Whyte (21.00), Somov (23.32), Harting (20.11) and Andrej Barna (18.80) also competed in the A final of the 200 medley relay, finishing fifth with a time of 1:23.23 and securing the Cardinals' fifth straight All-American honors in the event.

In the 400 IM, Daniel Sos improved two spots from his morning swim to finish 14th with a time of 3:44.23, earning Honorable Mention All-American honors for the first time in his career.

The Cards return to the Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center for the final prelims session of the NCAA Championships tomorrow morning at 11 a.m. ET.