2022-23 Swimming & Diving Roster
Ilia Sibirtsev
- Position:
- Distance
- Weight:
- null
- Class:
- Senior
- Hometown:
- Barnaul, Russia
2023-24: Ilia swam in the 400 and 800 free and the at the Paris Olympic Games for Uzbekistan. At the NCAA Championships in Indianapolis, he earned All-American honors with an eighth place finish in the 1650 freestyle with a time of 14:41.87. In the 500 free, he was 20th, posting a time of 4:14.59. At the ACC Championships, he scored 62 points for the Cards. He won gold in the 500 free with a time of 4:14.41. He won the silver medal in the 1650 free with a time of 14:47.31. He made the C-final of the 200 free, touching 23rd overall with a time of 1:36.60. In the dual meet season, he won the 1000 against Auburn, Xavier, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana and Wisconsin. He won the 800M and 400M freestyle against Tennessee. He won the 500 free versus Notre Dame, Missouri, Kentucky, Indiana and Wisconsin.
2022-23: At the ACC Championships, Ilia made the A-final of the 500 freestyle where he finished 7th with a time of 4:19.24. He was sixth in the 1650 free with a time of 14.58.70 and was 34th overall in the 400 IM with a time of 3:59.62. To start out the dual meet season, he won the 500 and 100 against Xavier and won the 1000 against Tennessee while placing third in the 500. He touched second in the 1000 freestyle at Notre Dame adding a second place in the 500 as well. At the Purdue Invitational, he was fourth in the 500 free (4:22.60) and 10th in the 400 IM with a 3:57.95. He also won the 1650 freestyle in 14:58.12. He swept the distance events at Missouri with a 9:10 in the 1000 and a 4:25.00 in the 500. Against rival Kentucky, he was sixth in the 1000 free and seventh in the 500 free. Against Indiana, he was third in the 1000 free and fourth in the 500 free. On senior day against Cincinnati, he won the 1650 with a 15.13.88 and was fourth in the 400 IM.
2021-22 During the dual meet season, Sibirtsev brought strong competition to the distance group. He earned five top-7 to finish out the season. In the season's final dual meet against Cincinnati, Sibirtsev took home gold in the 1000 freestyle with a season-best time of 9:07.14. Against the Kentucky Wildcats, he finished 5th in the 500 freestyle (4:27.26) and 6th in the mile (15:39.46). Sibirtsev finished seventh in the 500 freestyle (4:30.81) and sixth in the 1000 freestyle (9:20.25) against Indiana. A star student, he was named to the ACC Academic Honor and the University of Louisville AD Honor Roll.
2020-21: Sibirtsev continued to be a dominant force in the Cardinals’ distance group during his sophomore season. At the NCAA Championships, he finished 21st in the mile (14:58.29) and also raced the 500 freestyle (4:23.48). At the ACC Championships, he earned bronze in the mile (14:51.33), placed 17th in the 500 freestyle (4:18.60), and took 21st in the 400 individual medley (3:53.97). Sibirtsev posted six top-8 finishes throughout the shortened dual meet season, highlighted by a win in the 1000 freestyle and a runner-up showing in the 500 freestyle against Cincinnati. He also raced to second and sixth, respectively, in those events versus Kentucky.
2019-20: Sibirtsev had a standout debut season with the Cardinals, qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the 1650 freestyle before the meet was cancelled. At the ACC Championships, he placed 18th in the mile (15:21.45) and 27th in the 500 freestyle (4:23.70) after winning the 1650 freestyle (14:56.07) at the UofL First Chance Invitational. At the Purdue Invitational, he earned bronze in both the 500 freestyle (4:22.97) and mile (15:10.53) before going on to compete in four events at the Toyota U.S. Open. Sibirtsev recorded 10 top-five finishes throughout the dual meet season, highlighted by victories in the 500 freestyle (4:28.48) versus Northwestern and the 1000 freestyle (9:07.56) against Kentucky. He was also named to the CSCAA All-American team in the mile.
Prep: Coming to Louisville from Barnaul, Russia, Sibirtsev competed for Volga Swim Club under the leadership of Mancevich Tatiyana and Alec Rukosuev and has represented the Russian Swimming Federation on the international stage. He won gold in the 800m free and silver in the 1500m free at the 2019 LEN European Junior Championships, setting a championship record in the former event. At the 7th FINA World Junior Championships, Sibirtsev was the 800m free runner-up and finished third in the 1500m free.. He placed third in the mile at Russian Nationals in 2018 before going on to secure the runner-up spot in the 400m free at European Juniors. He holds best times of 3:50.45 in the 400m free, 7:48.05 in the 800m free, and 15:05.17 in the 1500m free.
