Louisville Men Clock 1:25 200MR In Albiero-Less Dual Against Missouri

Missouri v. Louisville

• Friday, January 15, 2021
• SCY
• Dual Meet Format
• Full Results 
• Scores:
  • Men: Louisville 199, Missouri 101
  • Women: Unscored

Today’s dual meet between Louisville and Missouri looked a little different due to COVID contact tracing procedures, but that didn’t mean the meet was bereft of swift swimming. Louisville announced in its release that head coach Arthur Albiero missed the meet, as he was quarantined “for COVID contact tracing protocol measures,” but he was far from the only Cardinal missing from the pool today.

Louisville officially only addressed Arthur Albiero missing, but both of his children on the team, Gabi and Nick, were noticeably absent, along with several other Louisville women, enough that the women’s meet was unscored. While Nick is an All-American, the Cardinal men barely seemed to miss a beat as they downed Missouri 199-101.

Arguably the biggest swim of the day came in the very first event on the men’s side, the 200 medley relay. Mitchell Whyte led off in 21.58, Evgenii Somov split 23.80 on breast, freshman Dalton Lowe, filling in for Nick Albiero, threw down a 20.37 fly leg, and Haridi Sameh anchored in 19.32, touching in 1:25.07. Louisville is looking like the early favorites to win this relay at ACCs, where last year they touched first before being DQ’d for an early start, and it’s unreasonable to suggest that they could be in the mix for a top three finish come NCAAs.

Three of those four men would account for four of Louisville’s individual victories as well. Whyte swept the backstrokes with times of 46.57 and 1:45.02. Lowe won the 100 fly by over two seconds with a 46.72, and Sameh won the 50 free with a 19.88, the only man under 20 seconds.

At the end of the session, Sameh (43.08) and Somov (43.63) combined with a 43.68 leadoff by individual 100 free champ Michael Eastman and a 43.53 3rd leg by Tanner Cummings to win the 400 free relay by over three seconds, posting a 2:53.92 to close out the meet.

The Mizzou men were led by sophomore Ben Patton, who split 23.79 on the breast leg of the Tigers’ DQ’d A relay, then won a tight race with Somov to take the 100 breast, 53.22 to 53.37. He swam a rare breast/back combo, placing 5th in the 200 back with a 1:49.37, before wrapping up his day with a 1:48.58 victory in the 200 IM, as the only man under 1:50.

While Louisville’s release only mentioned Coach Albiero being quarantined due to Covid contact tracing protocol, Missouri’s release mentioned that the women’s side of the meet was unscored “as Louisville’s women’s program dealt with COVID-19 protocol.” We don’t have any official word on the reasons for their absences, a quick glance through the results from tonight versus last week’s meet against Notre Dame shows noticeable absences from Christian Regenauer, Paige Hetrick, and Maria Sumida, besides Gabi Albiero.

Despite the absences, the Cardinal women got the pool rocking quickly, winning the 200 medley 1:38.18 to 1:38.71. While Mizzou’s Megan Keil split a speedy 21.98 on the anchor leg, it wasn’t enough to overcome the lead Louisville built on the first half, where Ashlyn Schoof led off in 25.29 and Kaylee Wheeler smoked a 26.41 breaststroke split. Wheeler would later win the 100 breast with a 59.39, the only women to break a minute, and split 49.43 on Louisville’s 400 free relay.

Sophomore Abby Hay picked up two individual victories for Louisville, winning the 200 fly by over two seconds with a 1:57.71, and then taking the 200 IM in 2:00.54. In between, she picked up a 2nd-place finish in the 200 breast.

Senior Sarah Thompson was the star of the day for the Missouri women. She got the day underway by splitting 22.92 on the Tigers’ 200 medley, the fastest split in the field by nearly a second. She took the 50 free in 22.30, then the 100 fly in 53.16, and led off the Tigers’ winning 400 free relay in 49.70, a time that that would’ve won the individual 100 free. That 3:18.16 relay also featured Keil (50.18), Amy Feddersen (49.82), and Alex Moderski, who had the fastest split in the field in 48.46. Earlier in the session, Moderski won the tightest race of the day by touching out Louisville’s Katie Schorr 49.98 to 49.99 in the 100 free.

Louisville Release

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The University of Louisville men’s swimming and diving team downed Missouri 199-101 Friday afternoon at the Ralph Wright Natatorium.  UofL was without head coach Arthur Albiero, who was quarantined for COVID contact tracing protocol measures.

“I am proud of the way the men raced and used today as a step in the process toward the postseason,” said Chris Lindauer, the UofL assistant coach who was acting in Albiero’s stead.  “We took advantage of every opportunity. We had positive team energy and won the small details which was what led us to a great team win today.”

The Cards won both diving events, both relays and seven individual events to seal the win. Haridi Sameh won the 50 free and was on both relays. Hayden Curley won both distance events with firsts in the 1650 freestyle and the 500 free. Mitchell Whyte helped win the 200 Medley Relay and then won both the 100 and 200 backstroke. Daniel Pintowon both the 3M and 1M boards to further highlight the day.

“It was definitely a different experience to watch the meet from my computer at home due to the quarantine,” said Albiero. “Major props to our coaching staff who got the team ready to compete today. There were plenty of highlights on both the women’s meet and the men’s meet and it was great to see a number of swimmers stepping up and performing well for the team in crucial moments.”

Cardinals dominated the opening 200 medley relay when  Mitchell Whyte (21.58), Evgenii Somov (23.80), Dalton Lowe(20.37) and Haridi Sameh (19.32) combined for a time of 1:25.07, more than two seconds ahead of Mizzou.

Hayden Curley won the 1650 freestyle in 15:09.71!  TC Smith finished third in 15:27.40.

It was a Cardinal sweep in the 200 freestyle led by Colton Paulson (1:35.28), followed by Michael Eastman (1:36.34) and Kyle Worrell (1:37.29).

The Cards took the top four spots in the 100 backstroke led by winner Mitchell Whyte (46.57), who touched ahead of Nikos Sofianidis (47.54). Jack Wever (48.18), and Dalton Lowe (48.44).

Evgenii Somov got his hands to the wall in 53.37 for second place in the 100 breaststroke, followed by Aidan Kreiley in 56.38 for fourth.

Greyson Alarcon dipped under the 1:50-barrier in the 200 butterfly with a time of 1:49.42, fast enough for second place.

The Cardinals posted another 1-2 finish, this time in the 50 freestyle led by Haridi Sameh (19.88), who just out-touched Mihalis Deliyiannis (20.04).

Daniel Pinto dove to first on the 1-meter board, posting a score of 323.18 for the win for the Cards. UofL’s Kivanc Gur(295.95) and Adam Sneden (288.75) finish third and fourth. Pinto claimed both boards after winning the 3-meter with a final score of 352.95.

“I am very pleased with how the divers competed today, said Ryan Rougeux, UofL diving coach. “We have ony been in the pool for a couple of days following winter break, so it is great to see the divers put together solid performances at this time in the season. I attribute their performance today to their positive attitudes and the camaraderie  we have built over the past few months training together. Today was exciting , you could feel the energy. I am ready to carry that over into next weekend  when we tak on in-state rival Kentucky.”

Mitchell Whyte won the 200 backstroke in 1:45.02 while Jack Wever took second in 1:46.37.

Evgenii Somov was third in the 200 breaststroke with a time of 2:01.55, followed by UofL’s Aidan Kreiley (2:05.51) in fourth.

Hayden Curley cruised to first in the 500 freestyle, stopping the clock in 4:25.10 and TC Smith was right behind him in 4:28.62 for second.

Dalton Lowe crushed the field in the 100 butterfly, winning the event by two seconds, posting a time of 46.72

Jack Wever finished second in the 200 individual medley with a time of 1:50.05.

In the final event of the day, the Cardinals finished 1-2 in the final 400 freestyle relay. UofL’s A relay of Michael Eastman (43.68), Haridi Sameh (43.08), Tanner Cummings (43.53) and Evgenii Somov (43.63) win it in 2:53.92, followed by the Cards’ B relay in 2:57.59 for second.

The Cardinals head to Lexington, to face rival Kentucky on Jan. 23 at 1 p.m.

Missouri Release

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The No. 8 Mizzou men’s swimming and diving team hit the pool for the first time in two months, falling at No. 13 Louisville, 199-101, on Friday afternoon at Ralph Wright Natatorium in Louisville, Ky. The No. 13 Tiger women competed in an unscored meet against the Cardinals as Louisville’s women’s program dealt with COVID-19 protocol.

KEY PERFORMANCES

Sophomore Ben Patton (Wichita, Kan.) took top honors on two events, while sophomores Luke Davis (Edmond, Okla.) and Will Goodwin (Centennial, Colo.) each won one apiece.

Patton touched first in both the 100 breast and 200 IM, with times of 53.22 and 1:48.58, respectively. The wins were his eighth and ninth event titles of the 2020-21 season.

In the men’s 200 fly, Davis claimed the first event win of his career, after a time of 1:48.58. Also victorious in the men’s meet was Goodwin, who placed first in the 200 breast with a 1:59.80.

On the women’s side, freshman Jane Smith (Palatine, Ill.) dropped five seconds off her 1000 free personal best with a swim of 9:54.60, which moved her into fifth all-time at Mizzou in the event.

In addition to Smith, other Tigers who placed first in the unscored women’s competition were senior Sarah Thompson (Collierville, Tenn.) in the 50 free and 100 fly, junior Sarah Rousseau (Melbourne, Fla.) on 1-meter and 3-meter and sophomores Alex Moderski(McFarland, Wis.) in the 100 free and Meredith Rees (Colorado Springs, Colo.) in the 100 back.

QUOTABLES

Associated Head Coach Alec Hayden
“We knew this was going to be a tough meet and we were excited for the challenge. We were without two of our team leaders and raced on tired legs coming off our toughest two weeks of training this year. Louisville swam very fast but we were proud of how our team responded. We didn’t get the win but our men never backed down and competed hard through the end of the meet.

Associate Head Coach Tracy Martin
“I’m really proud of the women’s team. We had some great performances in the pool and on the boards. We are in a great place and have set ourselves up to have successful championships meets.”

EVENT WINNERS

100 Breast – Ben Patton (53.22)
200 Fly – Luke Davis (1:47.43)
200 Breast – Will Goodwin (1:59.80)
200 IM – Ben Patton (1:48.58)