Cardinals Win Five Medals at Day 2 Finals of ACC Championships

Wednesday, February 15

GREENSBORO, NC

TBA

University of Louisville

ACC Championships - Combined

Wednesday evening at the ACC Swim & Dive Championships at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, NC. (Photo: Karl L. Moore/Mooreshots LLC)

Photo by: Karl L. Moore/Mooreshots LLC

Cardinals Win Five Medals at Day 2 Finals of ACC Championships

February 15, 2023 | Swimming & Diving

Abdelrahman El-Araby wins Cards' first gold; Men and Women are in 2nd place

By: Nancy Worley

GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The University of Louisville won five medals and moved into second place during Day 2 finals of the 2023 Atlantic Coast Conference Championships in the Greensboro Aquatic Center.

The both the men and women's teams moved up into second place after the second day of competition. The men trail only NC State (585), Louisville (332.5), followed by Virginia (317), Virginia Tech (308.5), Notre Dame (286), Florida State (263.5), North Carolina (216), Pitt (209.5), Georgia Tech (187), Duke (133), Miami (74) and Boston College (64). The women trail Virginia's 551 with 473.5 points, followed by NC State (427), North Carolina (386), Virginia Tech (274), Duke (257), Notre Dame (216), Florida State (213), Miami (211), Pitt (163.5), Georgia Tech (158), and Boston College (100).

Abdelrahman El-Araby won the Cardinals' first gold of the meet with an upset win in the 50 free. The Cardinals won silver in the women's 200 free relay and the men won bronze in that event as well. Gabi Albiero won silver and Christiana Regenauer won bronze in the 50 freestyle.

The Louisville 200 free relay team set a school record and got an NCAA A-cut enroute to a silver medal time of 1:25.87. Gabi Albiero was the first in the water with a split of 21.57, Christiana Regenauer went 21.03 in the second leg. Julia Dennis boarded a split of 21.43 and Ella Welch turned in an anchor leg of 21.26. The new record smashed the old UofL mark of 1:26.71 set by Leslie Visscher, Mallory Comerford, Avery Braunecker and Casey Fanz in 2019 and would have finished second in the nation at last year's NCAA Championships. The Cardinal relay time is the fifth fastest time in NCAA history. The Cards dueled Virginia's foursome the whole race and the Cavaliers turned in the gold medal time of 1:23.87, as UVa set an American, NCAA record, ACC record and an ACC Championship record.

There was only .80 of a second between the top three times in the men's 200 free relay and the Cardinals took the bronze medal with a school record time of 1:15.90 and shaved two seconds faster than their entry time. The record of 1:15.98 was set last year at the ACCs by Abdelrahman El-Araby, Dalton Lowe, Nick Albiero and Michael Eastman. This year, Abdelrahman El-Araby swam the first leg in 19.07, Michael Eastman went 18.88 before Dalton Lowe's third leg of 18.93. An anchor leg of 19.02 by Vlad Dubinin put the Cards on the podium. Their time earned an A-cut as an automatic qualifier for the NCAA Championships next month. NC State won gold with a 1:15.10.

In the A-final of the 500 freestyle, Liberty Williams turned in a time of 4:41.63 to finish seventh. Rye Ulett finished fifth in the B-final, with a time of 4:45.59 and Paige Kuwata shaved three seconds off her prelim time to post a 4:47.62 in the C-final. Virginia's Ella Nelson and Georgia Tech's Deniz Ertan won gold tying with a time of 4:38.04.

For the men in the 500 freestyle, Ilia Sibirtsev finished seventh with a time of 4:19.24 in the A-final. In the B-final, Murilo Sartori finished second in the heat with a time of 4:17.48 and Denis Loktev touched sixth in 4:20.18. Eli Shoyat won the C-final, stopping the clock at 4:18.64 and Tommy Bried was sixth, going 4:20.85. NC State's James Plage outlasted a tightly contested final charge to put up the gold medal time of 4:12.33.

In the 200 IM, Abby Hay was fifth in the A-final with a time of 1:55.48. She touched second after the fly leg, third in the back and before touching fifth. In the B-final, Tristen Ulett was second with a time of 1:56.75 and Fernanda Celidonio was sixth in that same heart with a time of 1:5764. In the C-final, Madie Hall was sixth with a time of 1:59.30.

The Cards lone male finalist in the 200 IM, Luke Shourds finished 7^th in the C-final with a time of 1:46.18.

The Cardinals won silver and bronze in the 50 freestyle led by Gabi Albiero's school record 21.36. Christiana Regenauer won bronze with a time of 21.58, with a time that ranks third all-time. Both those times are A-cuts, guaranteeing a spot in the NCAAs. The race was won by UVa's Gretchen Walsh's 20.83, which set a new NCAA and ACC record.

From an outside lane, Abdelrahman El-Araby won gold in the 50 freestyle, after qualifying seventh this morning. His time of 18:74 set a school record and earned an A-cut for next months NCAAs. Louisville had three swimmers in the B-final, led by Dalton Lowe's third place time of 19.48. Michael Eastman was fourth in 19.58 and Vlad Dubinin was sixth in 19.60. Caleb Duncan touched fourth in the C-final with a 19.81.

Diver Lindsey Gizzi made the finals of the 1M springboard and finished sixth with a score of 286.15

Racing resumes tomorrow morning at 9:30 at the GAC with the finals beginning at 5:30 p.m.

Watch Prelims Here