2025 College Swimming Previews: Can #6 Louisville Women Rejig Without Regenauer?

It’s that time of the year again. SwimSwam will be previewing the top 12 men’s and women’s teams (and then some) from the 2024 NCAA Championships. Follow along with the College Swimming Preview Channel. Want to read even more? Check out the latest edition of the SwimSwam magazine. 

#6 LOUISVILLE CARDINALS

Key Losses: Christiana Regenauer (37 NCAA points, 4 NCAA relays), Else Praasterink (15 NCAA points), Cecilia Viberg (NCAA qualifier), Abby Hay

Key Additions: #16 Caroline Larsen (MN – sprint free/fly), #20 Camden Doane (WA – IM/fly), Merve Tuncel (Turkey- Distance Free), Daria Golovaty (Israel – sprint free), BOTR Avery Karl (KS – sprint free), BOTR Amelia Bodenstab (TX – Distance free), BOTR Camille Murray (TX – back), Mia Cheatwood (WVU transfer – breast)

Returning Fifth Years: Gabi Albiero (31 NCAA points, 4 NCAA relays), Paige Hetrick (8 NCAA points, 2 NCAA relays), Tristen Ulett (1 NCAA relay)

GRADING CRITERIA

Over the years, we’ve gone back and forth on how to project points, ranging from largely subjective rankings to more data-based grading criteria based on ‘projected returning points.’ We like being as objective as possible, but we’re going to stick with the approach we’ve adopted post-Covid. The “stars” will rely heavily on what swimmers actually did last year, but we’ll also give credit to returning swimmers or freshmen who have posted times that would have scored last year.

Since we only profile the top 12 teams in this format, our grades are designed with that range in mind. In the grand scheme of college swimming and compared to all other college programs, top 12 NCAA programs would pretty much all grade well across the board. But in the interest of making these previews informative, our grading scale is tough – designed to show the tiers between the good stroke groups, the great ones, and the 2015 Texas fly group types.

• 5 star (★★★★★) – a rare, elite NCAA group projected to score 25+ points per event
• 4 star (★★★★) – a very, very good NCAA group projected to score 15-24 points per event
• 3 star (★★★) – a good NCAA group projected to score 5-14 points per event
• 2 star (★★) – a solid NCAA group projected to score 1-4 points per event
• 1 star (★) –  an NCAA group that is projected to score no points per event, though that doesn’t mean it’s without potential scorers – they’ll just need to leapfrog some swimmers ahead of them to do it

We’ll grade each event discipline: sprint free (which we define to include all the relay-distance freestyle events, so 50, 100 and 200), distance free, IM, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and diving. Use these grades as a jumping-off point for discussion, rather than a reason to be angry.

Also, keep in mind that we are publishing many of these previews before teams have posted finalized rosters. We’re making our assessments based on the best information we have available at the time of publication, but we reserve the right to make changes after publication based on any new information that may emerge regarding rosters. If that does happen, we’ll make certain to note the change.

2023-2024 LOOKBACK

After a 13th-place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2021, the Louisville women have evolved into a consistent top-six threat at the biggest meet of the year, placing 6th in 2022, 4th in 2023 and then 6th again last season.

Leading the charge for the Cardinals was a combined 68 individual points from Christiana Regenauer and Gabi Albiero, who raced the same events and earned second swims in all three: the 50 free, 100 free and 100 fly.

Regenauer was 4th in the 50 free, 6th in the 100 free and 9th in the 100 fly, and Albiero was 6th, 8th and 10th, respectively.

Given that Louisville had Regenauer, Albiero and Julia Dennis in the ‘A’ final of the 50 free, it’s no surprise that another big chunk of their points came in the sprint free relays. The Cardinals were the runner-ups in the 200 free relay and placed 3rd in the 400 free relay, giving them another 66 points.

The team scored in all five relays, and in addition to Regenauer, Albiero and Dennis, had scoring performances from diver Else Praasterink, and swimmers Paige Hetrick, and Fernanda Celidonio.

One month prior to NCAAs, the Cardinals claimed the runner-up position at the ACC Championships, inching past NC State by 39 points. That marked the first time Louisville finished 2nd since 2018, having reeled off five straight 3rd-place showings behind Virginia and the Wolfpack.

Virginia’s dominance across the board was a major reason why Louisville didn’t win a single event at ACCs, but producing three runner-up relays, having several strong individual swims and solid depth helped push the team to 2nd place at the conference meet.

SPRINT FREESTYLE: ★★★★

Sprint freestyle was Louisville’s major strength last season, and despite losing their top performer in Christiana Regenauer, they’re arguably even better with a windfall of incoming recruits coupled with the names they’ve got returning.

The Cardinals had six swimmers race the 50 free last year at NCAAs, with Regenauer, Julia Dennis and Gabi Albiero placing 4-5-6 for 42 points.

Regenauer and Albiero also went 6-8 in the 100 free, with Louisville having four 47-point swimmers on their roster with Lucy Mehraban and Dennis also in at 47.8.

Despite losing Regenauer, the Cardinals reload with the addition of 16th-ranked recruit Caroline Larsen, who has best times of 21.93 and 48.54 in the sprints, along with Avery Karl (22.1/49.1), Camden Doane (23.2/50.0) and Amelia Bodenstab (23.2/49.5).

There’s also Israeli Olympian Daria Golovaty joining the mix. She comes in with 25.44/55.12 long course best times, converting to times within striking distance of scoring: 22.19/48.21.

Last season it took 21.93/47.75 to score in the 50 and 100 free, and with Albiero in both and Dennis in the 50, the Cards have three likely scorers among the returners. Mehraban and Dennis have the potential to get there in the 100, and among the recruits, Larsen and Golovaty are both right there with a chance to do some damage.

In addition to Albiero, another crucial fifth-year returner is Paige Hetrick, who was far and away the team’s top 200 freestyler last season.

Hetrick produced three straight 1:43s at NCAAs, leading off the 800 free relay in a lifetime best of 1:43.68 before placing 14th in the individual event (1:43.76/1:43.98).

She’s their primary scoring threat in the event, but the Cards also have Summer Cardwell (1:44.94), Fernanda Celidonio (1:45.08) and Mehraban (1:45.51) returning after swimming the event at NCAAs.

There’s also help on the way in the form of Golovaty and Turkish freshman Merve Tuncel, who are both sub-2:00 in long course. Golovaty, who swam on Israel’s 4×200 free relay at the Olympics, has been 1:57.87 twice, which converts to a blistering 1:43.30—just over three-tenths back of the ‘A’ final last year (1:42.96).

Tuncel is more distance-oriented, but has a 1:59.70 LCM time that translates to 1:44.95 in short course yards. That may not be a scoring event for her, but it does give the team increased depth on the 800 free relay. Tuncel’s primary focus will be the 500 and 1650, so anything she adds to the mix in the 200 will be a bonus.

If Golovaty and Larsen are able to walk in and make an immediate impact, Louisville will continue to have one of the best distance groups in the country despite losing Regenauer.

DISTANCE FREESTYLE: ★★★

Louisville’s distance group gets an upgrade this season with the addition of Merve Tuncel, one of the best young freestylers we’ve seen in the past three years.

Tuncel, a three-time World Junior champion and Turkish Olympian, has long course best times of 4:06.25 in the 400 free and 15:55.23 in the 1500 free, converting to 4:35.91/15:36.50 in yards. If we translate those into the 2024 NCAA results, Tuncel would’ve theoretically won the 1650 free and finished 6th in the 500 free.

However, Tuncel’s personal best times were set in 2021, and she hasn’t shown a level close to it recently—after being one of Turkey’s flag-bearers at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, she didn’t qualify for the Paris Games this year. Based on the fastest swims she’s done in 2024 (4:14.47/16:28.70 long course), Tuncel should be within scoring range but nothing is certain.

Perhaps a more reliable newcomer, at least in the 500 free, is Daria Golovaty, who has been 4:11.40 in the 400 free LCM which converts to 4:41.68. That’s still well shy of scoring (4:38.87), but we’re not living and dying with what a conversion tells us. If Golovaty opts to train for the 100/200/500 free, rather than the 50, she could easily be a scorer hrere.

Among the returners, Summer Cardwell was the fastest swimmer for Louisville last year in 4:43.18, and she was their lone distance freestyle entrant at NCAAs, placing 45th in the 500. Their fastest in the mile was Paige Kuwata, who was 10th at ACCs in 16:28.09.

There’s also incoming domestic recruit Amelia Bodenstab, who has been 4:44.7 in the 500 and figures to bolster the distance group and fight for an ‘A’ final appearance at ACCs.

A peak Tuncel would make the Cardinals’ distance squad potentially a four-star group, but her recent performances give us pause on how competitive she’ll be relative to her capabilities, at least right away.

BACKSTROKE: ★★½

The Cardinals’ backstroke group is headed up by Paige Hetrick, who was their lone scorer in either event last season after placing 12th in the 200 back at NCAAs in 1:52.10.

Hetrick owns a best time of 1:51.70, set at the 2023 ACCs, and recorded a season-best of 1:52.03 last year in the NCAA prelims to advance in 9th, just four one-hundredths shy of the ‘A’ final.

She was entered in the 100 back at NCAAs last year but was a DFS, opting to focus on relays and the 200 free. Hetrick led off the 400 medley relay in 51.85, three-tenths shy of the scoring cutoff in the individual 100 back.

Rye Ulett was the team’s other NCAA entrant in a backstroke event, placing 29th in the 200 (1:54.19) after swimming a time of 1:53.43 at the Notre Dame Last Chance Meet three weeks earlier to qualify. Ulett has a pre-college best time of 1:51.84, and was in the 1:52s during her first two years at Louisville, but regressed a bit last year and isn’t projected to be a scorer.

Camille Murray comes in as an elite backstroke recruit with best times of 51.8/1:54.8, putting her within striking distance of scoring in the 100 and with plenty of potential in the 200.

The Cards lose their second-fastest 100 backstroker last year, Abby Hay (53.17), but they’re bringing back Ally Boynton, who is a good depth piece for ACC scoring after clocking 53.57/1:55.39 last year.

Backstroke really held Louisville back in the 200 medley relay last year, as they had the second slowest lead-off leg among scoring teams with a 24.58 from Karoline Barrett, who is more of a free/fly specialist. There aren’t any obvious swimmers who can be faster, though possibly Murray can fill that role if she trains for it. Her best time right now is 24.90.

BREASTSTROKE: ★

Cecilia Viberg‘s transfer to Pitt was a blow to Louisville’s breaststroke corps which wasn’t a team strength to begin with.

Although Viberg was well off her best at NCAAs, she was the team’s fastest 100 breaststroker last season at 59.66. With her exit, Ella Welch will be the lone returning swimmer on the roster having broken 1:00, clocking 59.89 last season at the Ohio State Invitational. Like Viberg, Welch added at NCAAs as the two of them finished near the bottom of the standings with 1:01 swims.

However, the fastest 100 breast best time belongs to Mia Cheatwood, a sophomore who transferred after one season at WVU. Cheatwood was an NCAA qualifier last season, setting a best time of 59.73 in the 100 breast to place 28th at NCAAs.

The top individual scoring threat for the team is rising senior Kim Herkle, who was 23rd at NCAAs last season in the 200 breast in 2:08.92 after clocking 2:08.61 at ACCs. Recreating that time in the NCAA prelims would’ve placed her 18th, and with several scoring breaststrokers graduating at the end of last season, the door is open for Herkle.

Cheatwood is close behind Herkle in the 200 breast, having set a PB last year at Big 12s in 2:09.13 before taking 30th at NCAAs (2:09.71).

Fernanda Celidonio also raced the 200 breast at NCAAs, setting a best of 2:09.59. That’s good for ACC scoring, but is at least one second short at NCAAs.

Incoming recruit Caroline Larsen has been 1:00.07 in the 100 breast, but given her pedigree in other events (50/100 free, 100 fly), it doesn’t seem likely breaststroke will be a focus.

For relay purposes, Welch (26.90) and Herkle (59.52) filled in the gaps reasonably well on the medleys, but there’s no question that this stroke is a weakness for the team. If Cheatwood can step in and be a 59-low relay split that would be an upgrade for the 400 medley.

BUTTERFLY: ★★★

The Regenauer-Albiero duo went 1-2 in the consolation final of the 100 fly last season, and the Cards bring back Albiero who will be pining for another berth in the ‘A’ final after she was 6th in 2022 and 5th in 2023.

Albiero was the ACC runner-up last season behind Gretchen Walsh in 50.68, and was a half-second off that at NCAAs en route to finishing 10th (51.10). With Albiero back in the 50s, the Cardinals can count on some top-eight points in this event to help offset the loss of Regenauer.

There’s plenty of depth in the 100 fly with Tristen Ulett (51.76) and Karoline Barrett (51.83) both earning NCAA invites last season and four incoming recruits with plenty of potential, led by Caroline Larsen with a best time of 52.15. À la Albiero and Regenauer, Larsen will likely focus on the 50 free, 100 free and 100 fly, and could be right in the thick of things in the fight for a second swim in this event with some improvement.

The team also has Camille Murray (53.0), Camden Doane (53.6) and Avery Karl (53.6) coming in with some 100 fly pedigree.

Louisville’s weaker in the 200 fly, where their fastest swimmer last year was Albiero (1:53.80), who won’t race this event in the postseason. Abby Hay was 1:54.83 for the Cards last year at the Ohio State Invite, but missed the second half of her graduate year with an injury. (Hay’s midseason invite time ended up being the exact requirement to earn a second swim at NCAAs.)

That left Ulett as their lone NCAA entrant in the event, with her placing 27th in 1:55.89. Doane joins the team with a personal best of 1:55.90, so with a one-second drop she’s in the hunt for points.

Albiero at the peak of her powers alone makes this a three-star group, and there’s potential for more with the two others in the 51s last year in the 100 fly and the duo at 1:55 in the 200 fly.

IM: ★★

The Louisville medley group isn’t one with high-end potential for major points at the NCAA level, but there’s plenty of depth.

Last season, Fernanda Celidonio saved her best 200 IM of the season for NCAAs, placing 14th in 1:55.11. The team also had Tristen Ulett (1:56.38), Kim Herkle (1:57.39/1:57.01 season-best) and Rye Ulett (1:57.98) in the field, placing 23rd, 33rd and 43rd, respectively. Abby Hay also went 1:56.79 at the midpoint of the season before her injury.

Joining the fold in the 200 IM is Camden Doane (1:57.40) and Caroline Larsen (1:58.63), so there’s plenty to work with.

Herkle placed 18th last season in the 400 IM, clocking 4:08.14 to finish eight-tenths shy of scoring. There’s a chance she pushes through there, and Doane (4:10.16) comes in with potential. R. Ulett also raced the 400 IM at NCAAs last year, taking 36th in 4:13.92.

Celidonio is the only swimmer in position to score in a medley event, so this is a two-star group for now. In the 400 IM, there aren’t as many scorers from last season graduating compared to some other events, so Herkle will need to drop time to crack the top 16.

DIVING: ★

The departure of Else Praasterink leaves Louisville without any divers projected to score at the NCAA Championships. Praasterink placed 3rd on platform last year for 15 points, making her the team’s third-highest individual scorer.

Her absence leaves rising senior Lindsay Gizzi as their lone returning NCAA qualifier, having finished 33rd on 1-meter in 2024 after scoring 56 points at ACCs. Gizzi also qualified for NCAAs in 2023, placing 39th on 1-meter.

Rising sophomore Samm Helmboldt had some promising dives last season, rising senior Grace Leonard contributed 13 points at ACCs, and Canadian Audree Brazeau-Howes joins the team as a freshman on the boards.

RELAYS: ★★★½

Note that the grading system doesn’t align perfectly for relays as double points.

Relay grading system:

• 5 star (★★★★★) – 31+ points per relay event
• 4 star (★★★★) – 22-30 relay points per event
• 3 star (★★★) – 12-21 relay points per event
• 2 star (★★) – 5-11 relay points per event
• 1 star (★) – 0-4 relay points per event

Last season’s relay group from the NCAA Championships only loses one swimmer, but it’s a significant one.

With Christiana Regenauer graduating, the Cardinals have critical legs to replace in all but the 800 free relay.

Having Gabi Albiero back for a fifth year is significant, and with the addition of freestyle sprinters Caroline Larsen and Daria Golovaty, Louisville can almost seamlessly replace Regenauer and hope to stay in the same range as last season.

Regenauer, Albiero, Julia Dennis, Ella Welch (200 free) and Lucy Mehraban (400 free) were on fire at NCAAs in the sprints, placing 2nd in the 200 and 3rd in the 400 free relay, and in losing Regenauer we can’t bank on them recreating those results. Larsen is sub-22 in the 50 from a flat start, so they should still be near the top in the 200 free relay, but the 400 free is a bit more of a question mark with Larsen sitting at 48.5 and Golovaty’s conversion at 48.21.

The medley relays are still relatively weak on back and breast, but having Albiero and several free sprinters to buoy them keeps them solid—probably in ‘B’ final scoring range.

The 800 free relay returns Paige Hetrick, Summer Cardwell, Fernanda Celidonio and Tristen Ulett, who were 13th last year for just eight points. Golovaty should take over one of those legs, which could be a two-second improvement and push them up into the top 10.

Overall, the relays will still be competitive enough across the board to score in all of them, but can’t count on two top-threes like last year. The sprint free events should still be in the top eight, maybe top five range, and the 800 free relay could see an improvement. The medleys will likely be earning ‘B’ final points.

Total Stars: 20/40

2024-25 OUTLOOK

Louisville will still be a top-10 team, but unless first-years Larsen, Murray, Tuncel and Golovaty walk in and perform right away, some of the team’s weaknesses could be exposed.

Without Regenauer and Praasterink, two of their three double-digit NCAA scorers, points will be hard to come by and it will be a requirement for the relays, and the big star coming back in Albiero, to pull their weight and then some when it comes down to it.

If the backstrokers and/or breaststrokers can take a leap forward, that goes a long way both individually and for the medley relays, and there are several spots where the Cards have a swimmer right on the cusp of scoring in an event, it’s just a matter of getting it done.

It’s possible that the collective efforts of Larsen and Golovaty will offset Regenauer’s relay departure, and adding in Tuncel, they could fill in her individual point tally as well (collectively).

Even if that were the case, and the only loss was Praasterink’s 15 diving points, the Cards would’ve slid from 6th last season to 9th, as Indiana and USC were nipping at their heels.

The freshman class is a strong one, so it’s not all doom and gloom, but this season, they’ll likely fall back a few spots.

Adding to that is their outlook at ACCs, where the additions of Stanford and Cal may bump them down to 4th or 5th in the team standings.

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