Cardinal Men Ready for NCAA Championships

Photo by: Jaylynn Nash

March 23, 2021 | Swimming & Diving

Louisville returns to Greensboro on Wednesday for the NCAA Championships.

By: Chandler Brandes

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Following the first-ever ACC title in program history, the University of Louisville men's swimming and diving team returns to Greensboro, N.C. for the NCAA Men's Swimming and Diving Championships on March 24-27.

The meet kicks off with timed finals of the 800 freestyle relay on Wednesday night at 6 p.m. inside the Greensboro Aquatic Center. The remaining three days of competition will begin with prelims at 10 a.m. and the top 16 qualifiers in each event will return for finals every evening at 6 p.m.

Ready to Leave Their Mark
Seeking to improve upon their program-best fifth place finish at the 2019 NCAA Championships, the Cardinals have qualified 12 swimmers, two relay alternates, and one diver. Louisville, who checked in at No. 5 in the final TYR/CSCAA poll of the season, has student-athletes in a combined 12 events and all five relays.

Nicolas Albiero, Haridi Sameh Kamel, Evgenii Somov, and Mitchell Whyte lead the Cardinals with three individual events apiece. Louisville is ranked in the top-15 in eight different events, with Albiero turning in the highest seed at No. 2 in both the 100 and 200 butterfly as well as No. 3 in the 100 backstroke. Somov is the third seed in the 100 breaststroke and ranks fourth in the 200 breaststroke.

Mitchell Whyte owns the fifth-fastest time in the 200 backstroke and ranks ninth in the 200 backstroke, while Sameh owns the 11th seed in the 50 freestyle. Additionally, Ilia Sibirtsev (18th, 1650 freestyle), Nikolaos Sofianidis (21st, 100 backstroke), and Hayden Curley (22nd, 1650 freestyle) also hold top-25 seeds.

All of the Cardinals' relays rank in the top 15, with four clocking in with top-5 seeds. The 200 medley is their highest-ranking relay at No. 2, followed closely by the 400 freestyle relay in third. The 200 freestyle relay and and 400 medley relay are seeded fourth and fifth, respectively, with the 800 freestyle relay turning in the 13th-fastest entry time.

Last Time in Greensboro
The last time the Cardinals raced in Greensboro was one for the record books, as Louisville clinched their first-ever ACC Championship title in February. UofL broke five school records and produced seven gold-medal swims throughout the four-day meet, finishing with 1181 points to snap NC State's six-year winning streak by two points.

Louisville's final score marked the highest point total in program history, besting the previous mark of 1178 set in 2015 during their first year in the ACC.

Somov captured his fourth-consecutive title in the 100 breaststroke with a time of 51.03, lowering the school, pool, meet, and ACC record. He made it a breaststroke sweep for the third time in his career by winning the 200 breaststroke in a time of 1:51.26 to set a new school, pool, and meet standard. He also finished third in the 200 individual medley in 1:44.05.

Albiero clinched his fourth-straight 200 butterfly title, getting his hands to the wall in 1:39.08. He also collected a pair of silver medals in the 100 backstroke (44.85) and 100 butterfly (44.67), the latter which broke his own school record.

Sameh led the way in the sprint events, highlighted by a silver medal in the 100 freestyle in 42.07 to move up to second all-time in school history. Turning in a time of 19.14 for a new UofL record in prelims, he finished third in 19.15 during finals.

After finishing second in the 200 backstroke the last two seasons, Whyte found himself on the top of the podium this year. He stopped the clock in 1:39.98 as the only swimmer in the field under the 1:40-barrier to earn gold.

All five of UofL's relays finished in the top three, including a trio of gold medal performances. Whyte, Somov, Dalton Lowe, and Sameh combined in 1:22.71 to open the meet with a win in the 200 medley relay for a new school record. Sameh, Albiero, Tanner Cummings, and Michael Eastman also set a new program record with a winning time of 1:16.37 in the 200 freestyle relay.

Whyte, Somov, Albiero, and Sameh gave UofL their second-straight ACC title in the 400 medley relay in 3:02.91, just off their meet record from the year prior. Sameh, Albiero, Eastman, and Cummings finished second in the 400 freestyle relay in 2:48.37, while the 800 freestyle relay of Albiero, Paulson, Eastman, and Curley secured bronze in 6:16.61.

On the boards, Kivanc Gur qualified for the ACC championship final of the platform event after taking sixth during prelims. He dove to fourth with a score of 371.40 during finals, and punched his ticket to NCAAs following his eighth-place finish at the Zone C Diving Championships.

About the Cardinals
After not competing during the fall semester following an abrupt end to the 2019-20 season, the Cardinals were back in action at the beginning of the new year. A narrow victory over conference foe Notre Dame on Jan. 9 came down to the wire as Eastman, Sameh, Albiero, and Paulson won the final 400 freestyle relay. Whyte, Somov, and Albiero were double-event winners against the Fighting Irish as Daniel Pinto and Sameh also picked up individual wins.

The Cardinals were back in action on Jan. 15 as they took down Missouri in the first home meet of the season. Louisville claimed both relays and a total of nine individual events, including two apiece from Curley, Whyte, and Pinto. UofL continued their winning ways on Jan. 23 as they outlasted in-state rival Kentucky in the annual Battle of the Bluegrass. The men swept both relays and multi-event winners included Albiero, Somov, Whyte, and Kamel. To cap off the win, Pinto dove to second on the 3-meter board while breaking his own program record with a score of 402.83.

UofL made it four-for-four in dual meets during the spring semester as they clinched a Senior Day win over Cincinnati on Jan. 30. The Cardinals once again won both relays and produced 14 individual event winners in Sibertsev, Greyson Alarcon, Sofiandis, Paulson, Curley, Albiero, Somov, and Kamel.

UofL qualified 10 men and four relay swimmers for the 2020 NCAA Championships before the meet was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Cardinals had the most qualifiers in the ACC and ranked in the top six in number of qualifiers in the nation last year.

How to Watch
ESPN3 will provide digital broadcast coverage for preliminary and finals sessions Wednesday, March 24 through Saturday, March 27. Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour show at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, April 6.

Louisville Qualifiers
Nicolas Albiero (100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 200 butterfly)
Tanner Cummings (50 freestyle)
Hayden Curley (1650 freestyle)
Mihalis Deliyiannis (50 freestyle)
Michael Eastman (relays)
Kivanc Gur (platform diving)
Dalton Lowe (100 butterfly)
Colton Paulson (200 freestyle)
Haridi Sameh Kamel (50 freestyle, 100 butterfly, 100 freestyle)
Ilia Sibirtsev (1650 freestyle)
T.C. Smith (1650 freestyle)
Nikolaos Sofianidis (100 backstroke)
Evgenii Somov (200 individual medley, 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke)
Mitchell Whyte (100 butterfly, 100 backstroke, 200 backstroke)
Kyle Worrell (relays)