By Sammie Hill–

In the final home meet of the season, the University of Louisville swimming and diving teams dominated the University of Kentucky, winning all but four races. The men ended with a victory of 188-107 while the women earned a 183-107 win.

Two Cardinal men secured triple wins in the meet held on Friday, Feb. 3: senior Brendon Andrews won the 100 backstroke, 200 medley relay and 400 freestyle relay, and sophomore Joao De Lucca led the 200 freestyle, 100 freestyle and 400 freestyle relays. These two Cards have both achieved the honor of being named Big East Swimmers of the Week within the past month. The men’s team also produced several double winners, including sophomore Kameron Chastain, senior Pedro Oliveira and senior Carlos Almeida.

Senior Fanny Lilliestrom led the women with her performance in the 100 breaststroke and 200 breaststroke. Freshman Victoria Mitchell and senior Raine Thompson also had noteworthy showings, along with Tanja Killiainen, who set a pool record with her time of 1:58.27 in the 200 butterfly. The combined success of the women and men allowed both teams’ seniors to conclude their final home meet with satisfaction. “We are very pleased with the way we competed to honor our seniors,” proclaimed head coach Arthur Albiero. “It was a bittersweet day for me because this group of seniors has had a tremendous improvement in the development of our program so far. Our goal today was to race with a championship mindset, and we accomplished that on many levels.”

Friday’s achievement enabled the women’s team to earn redemption after falling 165-128 to the No. 11 ranked University of Indiana on Saturday, Jan. 28. Gaining confidence from this victory over their intrastate rivals, both the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams hope to utilize this win as motivation and fuel as they prepare to compete in the Big East Championships.

“This sets us up for momentum going forward as we strive to earn our spots in the NCAA Championship,” Albiero revealed.

Beginning Feb. 15, in Pittsburgh, PA, the Big East Championships will last all day and test the Cardinals’ stamina and strength. Hoping to rise to the challenge, the U of L swimming and diving teams will strive to ride the success of this victory into the next, and most difficult, step of their season.

sports@louisvillecardinal.com
Photo: Michael Badlwin/The Louisville Cardinal