By Andy Knabel

Cardinal Swimming heads into the spring semester with high expectations.
The Cardinals, under the leadership of head coach Arthur Albiero, begin the spring semester highly ranked, motivated and accomplished. The men’s and women’s teams are both ranked in the top 20 and freshman Doug Dietrich was named a national champion.
The fall season produced a lot of success for Albiero’s program. After a narrow defeat on the road at Tennessee, whose men’s and women’s teams both rank in the top 15, the Cards have been unbeatable. Soon after the women’s team defeated Miami (OH) and Purdue, both the men’s and women’s teams swept West Virginia and highly ranked Missouri.
The Cardinals had a great showing in the 2008 ConocoPhillips Short Course National Championships at the Georgia Tech Aquatic Center. The Cardinals broke four school records throughout the Short Course Championships.
Junior Carlos Van Isschot set two school records, one in the 100-back with a time of 47.59, and another in the 50-back with a time of 22.11. Another school record was set by freshman Raine Thompson with a time of 55.92 in the 100-back. 
On Day 3 of the Short Course Championships, red shirt junior Whitney Campbell set another school record in the 100-free with a time of 49.31 in the prelims.
Campbell also helped the women finish No. 4 in the 400-free relay as the anchor.
“Whitney’s anchor leg split was 48.67 so she was flat out hauling in that leg,” Albiero said. “She is emerging as the up and coming sprinter on the college scene.”
Van Isschot, Thompson and Campbell weren’t the only Cardinals to show great individual performances.
Dietrich was named the 18-under national champion in the 200-fly.
Albiero was satisfied with his teams’ performances from top to bottom.
“Overall, I am pleased with the good effort we had,” Albiero said. “We came ready to compete.”
After such success, the Cards found themselves reaching new heights in the CSCAA coaches’ poll. The Cards men’s and women’s teams both broke into the Top 20 in December at No. 16 and No. 20 respectively.
With the buzz around the program, recruiting has been heating up for Albiero. Toward the end of the fall semester, U of L signed four top swimmers on the men’s side, and three top swimmers on the women’s side, from a variety of locations.
The four incoming talents for the men’s team are Michael Haefner of Bentonville, Arkansas, Alex Burtch of Goshen, In., Kevin Bandy of Coral Springs, Fl., and Michael Pryor of Jaffrey, NH. The three rising stars who signed with the women’s team are Heather Holtom of Charlotte, NC, Kara Savegnago of St. Charles, Ill., and Jackie Sherrard of Erlanger, Ky. All new additions excelled at their respective high schools and bring a lot of energy and talent to the program.
“Overall, we feel very good about this class not only for their athletic abilities, but more importantly for their character,” Albiero said. “That has always been priority one for our program and this group certainly brings great expectations for the future of Cardinal Swimming.”
The Cards are back to work heading into a loaded spring schedule, with a trip to rival Kentucky on Saturday, and the Big East Championships in February.