By Gavin Lapaille

University of Louisville junior swimmer Vali Preda made a New Year’s Resolution to be more dedicated to swimming.

That could spell bad news for the rest of the country.

Preda, a three time All-American and 2008 Olympic qualifier, felt he needed to become more focused after not swimming up to his expectations at the beginning of the season. Preda suffered a stress fracture in his foot that didn’t allow him to progress with the rest of his teammates. U of L head coach Arthur Albiero said Preda is now swimming as well as he has in previous years.

“He is training well the last couple of weeks,” Albiero said. “You can tell he has turned the corner because it’s championship time and he has been there.”

Preda has racked up five Big East Championships and has qualified for the 100- and 200-breaststroke and the 200-Individual Medley at the National Championships the last two seasons. He gained an Olympic berth as a member of his home country Romania’s 400-medley relay team at the FINA World Championships last season.

The Olympic berth has caused Preda more stress than he has experienced in years past. Preda has to swim several extra meets to show the Romanian Federation he is in good shape and training well.

Still, Preda fully expects to qualify for the NCAA Championships in March.

“I expect to be there and do a much better job than in previous years,” Preda said. “Hopefully I’ll be rested enough to get a good spot.”

Preda will lead the newly ranked men’s team in their last home meet of the season against Western Kentucky University Thursday. The men, who are ranked No. 27 by the College Swim Coaches of America, have been hot recently, with duel-meet wins over conference rivals University of Notre Dame and the University of Cincinnati.

Albiero said he expects the WKU meet to be competitive.

“It’s an in-state rivalry. Not much more needs to be said,” Albiero said. “They always come ready for us. They are always a top team no matter how they look on paper.”

Along with Preda, the men’s team has several quality swimmers who should be competitive for the rest of the season. Junior Adam Madarassy is a former All-American in the 200-butterfly, while sophomore Rafal Kuchta earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships after posting “A” cut times also in the 200-fly. Senior Chris Lindauer, junior Andrei Radzionau and the 400-medley relay team are others Albiero cites as in contention for NCAA Championship berths.

A pair of U.S. Olympic Trials qualifiers leads the women’s team. Sophomore Anna Dishuck and junior Leslie VanWinkle each made Olympic Trials times at the USA National Championships in the 200-breast and the 200-IM respectively. Both will compete in the Olympic Trials this June in Omaha, Neb.

Dishuck said her only goal of the meet is to swim well.

“My goal is to go to that and swim faster than I ever have before,” Dishuck said. I think with it being meters versus yards it’s going to be good for me to practice that way.”

Dishuck has known Albiero since she was a 10-year old at the Crimson Tide Aquatics swim team in Tuscaloosa, Ala. Albiero said she always had moments where he knew she would be really good.

“Coming out of high school she was certainly improving but not to the level she is now,” Albiero said. “I think our program was a good fit for her and vise versa. It has been a very positive win-win situation.”

The women have been solid all season, with duel-meet wins over West Virginia University, Miami of Ohio University and Cincinnati. Albiero noted Dishuck, VanWinkle and the 200- and 400-free relays as possible NCAA berths.

The match-up with WKU will be the last meet for the men and women before the Big East Championships in Long Island, N.Y. at the end of March. Albiero believes the pieces of the puzzle could be in place to make a run at the conference championship.

“I’m not one for predictions but our goal from the beginning when I first got the job here was to win the Big East,” Albiero said. “The challenge this year is to see how close we can get to it and see if this is the year we can do it.”

However, Albiero feels the Cards have room to grow.

“We’re on our way,” Albiero said. “I think we have started to realize some of our potential. I think we’ve done well, but there is a lot more there. Now that we’ve seen what we can do the expectations are sky high.”