2021-22 Swimming & Diving Roster
Evgenii Somov
- Position:
- Breaststroke
- Class:
- Graduate Student
- Hometown:
- St. Petersburg, Russia
Senior: Somov’s senior season was one for the record books. He finished fourth in the 100 breaststroke (51.17) at the NCAA Championships and split 22.87 on the breaststroke leg of the winning 200 medley relay that marked UofL’s first-ever relay national title. Somov also split 50.68 on the breaststroke leg of the 400 medley relay that finished fourth. At the ACC Championships, he won his fourth-straight title in the 100 breaststroke (51.03) en route to breaking the conference, meet, and school record. Somov successfully defended his 200 breaststroke (1:51.26) ACC title which also set a new meet and school record, in addition to placing third in the 200 individual medley (1:44.05) to help Louisville win their first conference crown in program history. He was also part of two winning UofL relays at ACCs after splitting 22.91 on the 200 medley relay and 50.58 on the 400 medley relay. Somov won six events across three meets during the shortened dual meet season, including sweeping both breaststroke events against Cincinnati and Kentucky. He was named ACC Swimmer of the Week on November 24.
Junior: Somov continued his winning ways as a junior and qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, and 200 individual medley before the meet was cancelled. At the ACC Championships, he successfully defended his 100 breaststroke (51.85) for the third-straight year en route to setting a new pool record while also adding gold in the 200 breaststroke (1:52.54) and taking fourth in the 200 individual medley (1:43.24). He also split a 51.40 in the 400 medley relay to help the Cardinals win gold and set a new ACC meet and pool record and split a 42.66 on the 400 freestyle relay that finished second. He was the runner-up in both the 100 (52.34) and 200 (1:56.77) breaststroke events at the Purdue Invitational before going on to win the B-final of the 100-meter breaststroke (1:00.50) at the Toyota U.S. Open. Somov picked up nine first-place finishes throughout the dual meet season, including a sweep of both the 100 and 200 breaststroke against Kentucky and Indiana. For his performances in both the pool and in the classroom, Somov was awarded ACC Honor Roll and CSCAA Scholar All-America honors. He was also named to the CSCAA All-American team in the 100 breaststroke, 200 breaststroke, 200 individual medley, 400 freestyle relay, and 400 medley relay.Sophomore: Somov followed up a highly successful freshman campaign with an equally impressive sophomore season. At the NCAA Championships, he broke the Cards’ oldest record in the books in the 100 breast with a seventh place finish in a time of 51.77. He also qualified for finals in the 200 breast, finishing 14th in a time of 1:53.89, and helped the Cardinals to a pair of fifth place finishes in the 200 and 400 medley relays. At the ACC Championships, he won his second consecutive 100 breast title with a gold medal winning time of 51.90. He also earned a silver medal in the 200 breast (1:53.26), an 18th place finish in the 200 IM (1:45.47) and two silver medals in the 200 medley and 400 medley relays. At the IU Invitational, Somov took second in both the 100 and 200 breast and also added an 18th place finish in the 200 IM. Throughout the dual meet season, he tallied nine individual wins, including sweeps of the 100 and 200 breast against Kentucky, Northwestern and Missouri.
Freshman: Somov joined the Cardinals from Russia in the second portion of the 2017-18 season. He qualified for the NCAA Championships in both the 100 and 200 breast, where he finished eighth in the 100 in a time of 52.07. At the ACC Championships, he swept the gold medals in the breaststroke events capturing the titles in times of 52.18 and 1:53.05 in the 100 and 200 respectively. He scored a total of 80 individual points for Louisville after finishing 11th in the 200 IM (1:45.02) at the ACCs as well. He also helped the Cards to a silver medal in the 400 medley relay with a 51.92 split on the breaststroke leg and a bronze medal finish in the 400 free relay with a 43.41 split. At the TYR Pro Swim Series in Columbus, Somov took silver in the 200-meter breast (2:13.28) and finished fourth overall in the 100-meter breast (1:01.18). In the dual meet season, he recorded a third place finish in the 100 breast in the Cards’ win over Kentucky.
