By Andrew Krumme
The University of Louisville swimming teams paid homage to Crawford Pool by taking down the Evansville Purple Aces Saturday afternoon. The meet marks the final time the men’s and women’s teams will compete in Crawford Pool. The Cardinals will move to the new Ralph Wright Natatorium next season.
“This was a great way to close this chapter of U of L swimming,” said U of L coach Arthur Albiero. “It was a great sendoff for our seniors.”
A final farewell
As the team bade farewell to Crawford, they also honored three seniors in what was their last meet at their home pool. The men’s team gave lone senior Tim Thomas a nice sendoff with a dominating 142-95 win against Evansville. The women’s team honored Ann Isaacs and Angie Nicolletta with their decisive 153-82 victory over the Aces.
Thomas shouldered the sprinters for four years at U of L. His accomplishments include a third-place finish in the 100-meter free at the Bowling Green Invitational as a sophomore. He was also part of the 100-meter free relay team that dominated TCU in the regular season conference meet. As a freshman, Thomas was part of the 400- and 800-meter free relay teams that took fourth place in the conference meet.
Isaacs and Nicolletta swam their last laps in Crawford Pool Saturday, and both went out on a high note. Isaacs won the 100 fly and 500-meter freestyle events, both firsts in her collegiate career. Some of Isaacs’ accomplishments over the past four years at Louisville include a top-16 finish as a sophomore in the conference meet in all three of her events to combine with major contributions as a freshman in the 800 free relay and 400 medley relay teams.
Nicolletta completed her last meet at Crawford Pool with an impressive win in the 100-meter free and was part of the winning 200-meter medley relay team. Some of Nicolletta’s other accomplishments include being named team co-captain this year. As a sophomore, she swept every event in a meet against Eastern Illinois. Nicolletta was also one of the team’s top point producers as a freshman. In annual Conference USA meet her freshman year, she placed fourth in the 400 medley relay, placed fifth in the 200 free, 200 fly and the 200 medley relay.
Other outstanding swimmers
While Thomas, Isaacs and Nicolletta said their goodbyes to their home pool with outstanding performances, several men set the pool on fire in Saturday’s competition. Freshman Tyler Smith notched a first-place finish in the 1,000-meter free while Jonathan Farnham won both the 50- and 100-meter free events. Adam Madarassy also highlighted the meet with a dominating win in the 100 fly.
“There is a reason that Adam is ranked in the top 25 in this event at this time,” Albiero said following Madarassy’s easy win. Albiero also did not want the accomplishments of Travis Gray to go unnoticed. Gray made major contributions in the 500- and 1,000- meter free.
A new home
While Saturday’s competition marked the last meet at Crawford Pool, the team cannot wait for the completion of their new facility, the Ralph Wright Natatorium. The new home for U of L swimming and diving is named after Louisville’s first swimming coach, Ralph Wright, a world-class swimmer and the driving force behind the rise of competitive swimming and diving in Louisville.
The new natatorium is slated to be complete before the next year’s first meet and will be located on the east end of the Belknap campus. It will feature an eight-lane, 50-meter competition pool with a depth ranging from 4’6”-18’. Movable bulkheads will enable the pool to be divided into two 25-meter or 25-yard competition-ready areas. The deep end will feature two 1-meter boards, two 3-meter boards and a tower with diving platforms at 5, 7.5 and 10 meters.
The 40,000-square-foot facility will be able to fit over 800 fans and athletes. Offices, a large meeting room and up-to-date locker rooms for teams and the public will also be part of the natatorium.
This state-of-the-art facility is just another piece of the puzzle to go along with the continued growth of the Louisville campus that also features new softball and soccer facilities along with a new baseball stadium that is set for unveiling by the end of the spring semester.
Coming attractions
The men’s and women’s team will take on the Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers on the road Friday at 3 p.m.
Results of the Sunday afternoon match against Kenyon were unavailable at press time.
