Louisville vs. Notre Dame
- November 3, 2023
- Ralph Wright Natatorium, Louisville, Kentucky
- Short Course Yards (25 yards)
- Meet Results
- Team Scores
- Men: Notre Dame 142, Louisville 122
- Women: Louisville 188, Notre Dame 76
Louisville hosted ACC rival Notre Dame this past Friday in a meet that ended in a split. The Notre Dame men, #14 in SwimSwam’s pre-season power rankings, won a close meet versus #16 Louisville. Each team won eight events each. The women’s meet was much more one-sided, with #3 Louisville picking up 15 wins out of 16 contested events.
Notre Dame last won this match-up in 2017, where the Fighting Irish paced a dual meet sweep against the Cardinals. The two programs also have deep ties through their coaching staffs. Notre Dame head coach Chris Lindauer, himself a former Cardinal, has assembled a staff of Louisville alumni, including Kameron Chastain, Kelsi Dahlia, Trevor Carroll, and recent addition João de Lucca.
Men’s Recap
Louisville jumped out to an early lead with wins in the 200 medley relay and 1000 free. The quartet of Yassim Hossam (22.20), Denis Petrashov (24.11), Dalton Lowe (20.40), and Caleb Duncan (19.78) combined for a time of 1:26.49, just 0.15 second ahead of Notre Dame’s A-relay. Notre Dame standout Chris Guiliano anchored his team’s relay with a blistering 18.93 to almost pull even with the Cardinals.
The 1000 free went to Ilia Sibirtsev, who swam 8:56.19 to take down the pool record by over two seconds. It was previously held by Michigan’s Ricardo Vargas and was set back in 2017.
Guiliano was back in action in the 200 free, logging a 1:37.05 for the win. He’s already been as fast as 1:33.75 this season.
Next up, Tommy Janton led a 1-2-3 sweep of the 100 back for Notre Dame, swinging the points in the Fighting Irish’s favor for the first time. Janton swam 46.96 for the win.
The Cardinals won the next two events, with Petrashov clocking a 53.51 in the 100 breast, and Gustavo Saldo swimming an impressively split 200 fly (1:46.13). Notre Dame’s Tate Bacon was in the lead at the 100 and 150 marks, but Saldo split a 27.21 coming home to post the only time sub-1:47. After that event, Louisville held a narrow four point lead.
That lead was short-lived, however, as Notre Dame won the next three events with increasing dominance. First, Abdelrahman Elaraby, back in action after the World Cup Series, won the 50 free (19.74). Elaraby led the entire race, beating out his formal Cardinal teammates in the process.
After the break, Elaraby was back in the pool to take 2nd in the 100 free (43.90) behind Guiliano (43.10). The pair of swimmers clocked the only times sub-44.
Notre Dame had already reclaimed the lead at this point, but Janton cemented it with another win in the 200 back (1:43.95). The top three finishers were exactly the same as the 100 back, with graduate transfer Tanner Filion (1:44.87) and sophomore Marcus Gentry (1:45.50) close behind. ND wouldn’t relinquish their lead for the rest of the meet.
Petrashov picked up his second event win of the day in the 200 breast (1:57.22). Sibirtsev followed in the 500 free (4:21.44). Then Lowe won Louisville’s last individual event of the meet with a strong back-half in the 100 fly (47.02).
In the last individual event of the day, Filion captured his first individual win in his Notre Dame career. He won the 200 IM with a huge personal best of 1:47.94. The last time he swam the event was at a dual meet for D3 Whitman College in 2023, where he posted a 1:50.45.
The meet finished with a bit of excitement, as Notre Dame’s 400 free A-relay of Guiliano, Elaraby, Janton, and Wilburn were disqualified for any early take-off by Janton. Guiliano split a field-leading 42.77 on his lead-off, though he’s already been as fast as 41.63 this season.
Instead, Louisville’s quartet of Hossam (45.24) , Matias Santiso (44.53), Lowe (43.72), and Vlad Dubinin (44.69) combined for the win (2:58.18).
Other Highlights:
- Notre Dame also swept the boards, with Carlo Lopez winning 1-meter (346.95) and Ben Nguyen winning 3-meter (370.73).
- Tyler Christianson, back in the water for Notre Dame after representing Panama at the Pan American Games, recorded a pair of runner-up finishes in the 100 breast (54.79) and 200 breast (1:58.72), as well as contributing to ND’s 1-2-3 sweep of the 200 IM (3rd, 1:48.55).
Women’s Recap
The Cardinal women were dominant in the water and on the boards. They kicked off the meet with the quartet of Abby Hay, Ella Welch, Christiana Regenauer, and Gabi Albiero posting a time of 1:40.47 to win the 200 medley relay. Albiero went on to win both of her individual events: the 100 fly (53.29) and 200 fly (2:00.01), while Regenauer won the 50 free (23.08).
Kim Herkle was the only swimmer to win all three of her individual events, sweeping the 100 breast (1:02.44), 200 breast (2:12.82), and 200 IM (2:00.74). Lucy Mehraban was another multi-event winner for the Cardinal, winning the 100 free (49.74) and 200 free (1:48.95).
The distance events went to a pair of Louisville underclassmen. First-year Summer Cardwell was victorious in the 500 free (4:55.76), while sophomore Paige Kuwata claimed the 1000 free (10:06.86).
Notre Dame’s sole event win came courtesy of Madelyn Christman in the 100 back (55.07), who along with teammate Jess Geriane beat out Louisville team record holder Hay.
The meet closed out with Louisville’s B-relay emerging victorious over their A squad. Mehraban (50.18), Regenauer (49.89), Bianca Costea (51.13), and Cardwell (50.57) combined for the win (3:21.77). That group consisted of three first-years and one graduate student, Regenauer. Meanwhile, the team of Paige Hetrick (51.13), Albiero (49.83), Julia Dennis (50.14), and Welch (51.87) took 2nd (3:22.97), with Albiero clocking the fastest split of the field.
Other Highlights:
- Lindsay Gizzi swept both boards for Louisville, scoring 305.18 points on 1-meter and 320.55 on 3-meter.