Louisville Men Top Xavier as De Lucca is Hot Early
Men: Louisville 182 – Xavier 75 (last 3 events exhibition)
The Louisville men picked up this season right where they left off their top-10 performance at NCAA’s last year by routing Xavier to open their season.
Junior Joao de Lucca is off to a hot-start this season. He was very good in the 200 free with a 1:38.76 (he was 3rd at NCAA’s last year), as well as on the anchor of Louisville’s 200 free relay (20.21). He was joined on that free relay by senior Matt Schlytter, who split a 20.37, also on a rolling start. But while those swims were “very good,” De Lucca’s other two were outstanding.
First, on Louisville’s A-medley relay, he split a 21.74 on the butterfly leg. Him being versatile will be very important this season, as the other three members of both medleys graduated after last year. Then, in the individual 100 free, he swam a nation-leading 44.04 to win. That includes turning in a 21.2.
After a very good summer than included an Olympic berth for Brazil, don’t be surprised at all if he challenges for both the 100 and 200 freestyle NCAA titles.
His sophomore teammate Caryle Blondell swam a 45.56 to finish 2nd in that 100. That’s nearly three-seconds better than he was at this same meet last season to open up his freshman campaign,when he didn’t dip below 46-seconds until the end of January as the Cardinals began their taper.
Freshman distance swimmer Bryan Draganosky, from Germantown Academy, also earned his first two college wins, taking the 1000 free in 9:21 and the 500 in 4:34.2.
For Xavier, the highlight was freshman Luke Johanns. He finished 3rd in the 50 free in 21.34, and broke under 21 seconds on the anchor of both the 200 free and 200 medley relays.
Full meet results available here.
Kelsi Worrell Begins College Career With a Bang as Louisville Wins
Women: Louisville 183 – Xavier 73
When Louisville and head coach Arthur Albiero got Kelsi Worrell to sign on the dotted-line last year, they knew they had added an important piece to their team. Afterall, she was almost as fast already in the sprints as anybody on their team had been last season.
Just how special she was going to be, though, they could not have comprehended. Worrell stepped into her very first NCAA meet on Friday and not only won both the 50 (23.68) and 100 (50.66) freestyles, but she actually swam a lifetime best in the 100 free. That is quite an accomplishment in her first two races in college swimming.
Other double winners for Louisville included Eszter Povazsay, who as a senior is on the opposite end of her career. She won both the 100 back in 55.98 and the 200 back in 2:00.81.
The Louisville women’s breaststroke group, which is expected to be one of their strengths this year, was the one area that didn’t have a great start to this season. Freshman Lucy Kramer won the 100 breast in 1:06.54, and Tanja Kylliainen won the 200 in 2:20.80. All-American Gisselle Kohoyda, who was 4th in the 200 at NCAA’s last season, was 2nd-and-3rd in those two events, respectively.
Full meet results available here.
Notre Dame Men, Women Win Stark Relays
The Notre Dame men and women opened their seasons at home at the Dennis Stark Relays, where the women won resoundingly and the men just snuck by Oakland University to take victory as well. This meet received some high-profile national attention, thanks to several mentions on ESPN’s popular radio talkshow Mike & Mike that morning. One of the show’s two hosts, former Notre Dame star Mike Golic, brought the show to town both to watch the big-time Notre Dame vs. Stanford football game the next evening, and because it was the college debut of his daughter Sydney Golic.
As a typical “relay meet,” there weren’t an overwhelming amount of relevant results, but there were definitely some notable swims. All-American Frank Dyer got his year off to a great start with a pair of swims: a 20.68 50 free leadoff on the 200 free relay, and a 48.78 anchor on the 300 butterfly relay. He didn’t swim any 200 freestyles, which is the event where he finished as the 5th-best in the country this year, but so far, his junior year is off to a great start. Him and Louisville’s Joao de Lucca should have some big battles at this year’s Big East Championships.
The Oakkland men, who are already battle-hardened this year with some tough early dual meets, looked very good in this meet as well. That included a win in the 300 medley relay that saw a 50.78 leadoff from Alex Aceino
On the women’s side of the pool, the Irish put up a very good 400 medley relay of 3:45.38. That included a 54.05 butterfly leg from senior Kim Holden, a great result this early in the year, even on a rolling start. She would also put in a 55.62 leading off the 300 backstroke relay.
The Irish also put up a 3:26.7 in the 400 free relay, but were DQ’ed for an early takeoff. Still, with a 50.87 anchor from Kelly Ryan, they look like they’re lined-up to improve on their 22nd-place finish from last year’s NCAA Championship.
As for Golic, in her debut, she swam 5 events of all shapes and sizes. That included a 24.99 200 free relay anchor, and a 31.28 breaststroke split on the 200 medley relay.
Full meet results available here.
Other Results
- Pitt began their season with a blue-gold intrasquad meet, and will be encouraged by setting 5 meet records. That included a 56.85 from junior Veronica Lee in the women’s 100 fly and a 48.71 from Kourosh Ahani in the men’s 100 fly.
Worrell was 49.73 leading of relay at nj states.
Isn’t Notre Dame now in the SEC? So unfortunately De Lucca and Dyer wont be able to have a showdown at Big Easts…
Hahaha swimdog as confusing as it may be – no, Notre Dame is not in the SEC. They will be joining the ACC, though for this year they’re still Big East.
Worrell was out 50.mid in her 200 at NJ HS Meet, on the way out to a 1:47… So she has a big 100 in her soon.