No. 13-ranked Cardinals Beat No. 21-ranked Irish in Tight Meet

Saturday, January 9

South Bend, Ind.

W 10 a.m.; M 2 p.m.

University of Louisville

Notre Dame

No. 13-ranked Cardinals Beat No. 21-ranked Irish in Tight Meet

January 09, 2021 | Swimming & Diving

UofL takes final relay to clinch the win

By: Nancy Worley

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- It took a heroic swim in the final relay of the meet for the University of Louisville men's swimming and diving team to seal a 152-148 win over Notre Dame Saturday afternoon in South Bend.

"It was a great day to get back to competing in a college dual meet setting. We were certainly tested today and in the end, our guys found a way to win the meet. It was definitely a total team effort. I saw a good mix of veterans and freshmen stepping up in key moments," said UofL Head Coach Arthur Albiero.

The Cardinals won both relays, Daniel Pinto took 3M Diving, Mitchell Whyte won the 100 and 200 back, Evgenii Somov won the 100 breast and 200 IM, Nick Albiero won the 100 and 200 fly, and Haridi Sameh took the 50 free as meet highlights.

"As much work as we have to do, we will get to compete a few more ties this month and we are excited to get better," said Arthur Albiero.

The men took the 200 medley relay in the first race against Notre Dame. Mitchell Whyte (22.20), Evgenii Somov (24.54), Nicolas Albiero (20.64) and Haridi Sameh (19.42) combined for the winning time of 1:26.80, a full two seconds behind Notre Dame's second place A-relay.

T.C. Smith takes third in the grueling 1000 freestyle with a time of 9:20.07. Hayden Curley was fourth in 9:21.67. The event was won by ND's Jack Hoagland's time of 9:09.17.

The Irish's Sadler McKeen won the 200 free with a time of 1:37.34. UofL's Colton Paulson was third in the 200 free with a time of 1:38.01 just ahead of teammate Michael Eastman's 1:38.44.

The Cardinals notched their first individual win when Mitchell Whyte took the 100 back with a time of 47.78 with teammate Nikkos Sofianidis touching fourth, going 49.37.

Last year's breaststroke champion Evgenii Somov won the 100 breast with a time of 53.88, a full second ahead of the field for the second straight win for the Cardinals.

Nick Albiero made it a hat trick when he won the 200 fly by almost four seconds with a 1:44.62. Fellow Cardinal Gabriel Orbe was fourth in 1:52.16.

UofL stayed hot as Haridi Sameh won the 50 freestyle with a time of 20.20. Tanner Cummings is third (20.62), Caleb Duncan is fourth 20.86. Mihalis Deliyiannis was fifth with a 20.87.

Daniel Pinto won 3M Diving with a 354.38, more than 40 points ahead of the competition. Logan Smith was fourth (300.08) and Kivanc Gur place fifth with a 293.55. Pinto placed second in 1M Diving with a score of 292.43. Cardinal Adam Sneden was 4th with a 275.85 and Kivanc Gur posted a 249.0.

Notre Dame pushed back as Cason Wilburn (44.02) out-touched Cardinal Michael Eastman, who took second (44.66) in the 100 freestyle. Haridi Sameh was fourth in 45.06 and Tanner Cummings clocked in at 45.07.

Mitchell Whyte made it a backstroke sweep with the win in the 200 back with a time of 1:46.85. Jack Wever was fourth (1:47.94) and Nikkos Sofianidi was fifth in 1:49.93.

Evgenii Somov was edged in the 200 breaststroke, taking second with a time of 2:00.57 behind. ND's Josh Bottelberghe had his hand on the wall first at 2:00.29.

In the 500 free, T.C. Smith placed fourth with a 4:32.27 and Hayden Curley was fifth in 4:32.71. The event was won by ND's Jack Hoagland's 4:25.01.

Nicolas Albiero swept the fly event with a win the 100 fly with a time of 47.18. Louisville's Dalton Lowe was second, posting a 48.04.

It was another win for Evgenii Somov, this time in the 200 IM, posting a 1:49.74. Jack Wever was fourth with a 1:52.09.

With the meet on the line, Michael Eastman (44.56), Haridi Sameh (44.53), Nicolas Albiero (43.21) and Colton Paulson (44.18) won the 400 free relay with a 2:56.48 to clinch the meet. The B-relay of Kyle Worrell, Dalton Lowe, Santiago Aguilera, and Tanner Cummings went 3:00.33 for third.