By Sophie Kaufman on SwimSwam
Tennessee vs. Louisville
- Tennessee vs. Louisville
- October 24, 2024
- Louisville, KY
- Scores
- Women: #11 Louisville, 157 – #5 Tennessee, 143
- Men: #16 Louisville, 178.5 – #6 Tennessee, 121.5
- Full Results
Women’s Recap
The matchup between No. 5 Tennessee and No. 11 Louisville was a tale of two halves. The Cardinals made a huge push at the end of the meet, winning the last five events in the pool—including the final 400 freestyle relay—to pull away and upset the Tennessee women, 157-143.
The tone for the meet was set in the first event. Sophomore Camille Spink anchored Tennessee’s relay in 21.32, giving the Volunteers the win by .41 seconds in a pool record 1:36.15. Josephine Fuller (24.37), McKenzie Siroky (26.76), Brooklyn Douthwright (23.70), and Spink (21.32) are now the fastest team in the nation, taking over the top time from Texas.
Pool records fell right and left on both the women’s and men’s sides of the meet. Another went down in the next event, as freshman Daria Golovaty got the Cardinals their first event win in the 1000 freestyle. Golovaty swept the distance events at the meet, swimming 9:38.80 in the 1000 free then a lifetime best 4:38.79 in the 500 free, breaking two Liberty Williams pool records. Golovaty is now the fastest 500 freestyler in the league this season.
Louisville fifth-year Paige Hetrick won the 200 freestyle (1:45.12), holding off Douthwright (1:45.52) and Julia Mrozinski (1:45.81). But, the Volunteers fired back in the next three events, going 1-2 in the 100 backstroke, 100 breaststroke, and 200 butterfly. First, National Teamer Josephine Fuller swam 52.26 to win the 100 backstroke ahead of Lexi Stephens (53.81). Then, the underclassmen went to work in the 100 breast, as sophomore Emelie Fast and freshman McKenzie Siroky swam 59.51 and 59.92. Siroky out-split Lousiville’s Mia Cheatwood on the last 25 meters to secure the 1-2 for Tennessee, and move to 10th on the program’s all-time list in her collegiate debut.
Tennessee capped their streak of 1-2 finishes by going 1-2-3 in the 200 butterfly with Emily Brown (1:55.62), Sara Stotler (1:55.79), and Ella Jansen (1:55.85). Jansen, a Paris Olympian, also wasted no time jumping into the team all-time lists in her first NCAA meet. Her 200 fly time is the 10th fastest in program history while her 500 free time (4:40.67) ranks 7th.
Though the streak of 1-2 finishes was finished after that, Tennessee still claimed the next two events in the pool thanks to Spink. The reigning SEC champion in the 50 and 100 freestyle swept those events and discouting Gretchen Walsh’s converted 50 freestyle time, is now the fastest in both events this season. First, she clocked 21.87 in the 50 free, narrowly beating Julia Dennis (21.92). They are the first two swimmers to go sub-22 seconds in yards this season. Spink and Dennis finished in the same order in the 100 freestyle, with Spink blazing 47.30 and Dennis further back in 48.59, .01 seconds ahead of freshman teammate Caroline Larsen.
Fuller won the 200 backstroke in 1:52.04, breaking another Williams’ pool record (1:53.22). Cheatwood ended Tennessee’s run in the pool at six event wins. She and senior Kim Herkle went 1-2 in the 200 breaststroke, touching in 2:08.51 and 2:09.49.
Louisville went on their own run from there; Golovaty won the 500 freestyle, and then Ella Welch and Gabi Albiero went 1-2 in the 100 butterfly. The pair are third and fourth in yards this season with times of 51.89 and 52.16.
Fernanda Gomes Ceildonio won the 200 IM (1:57.75) and Lindsay Gizzi won both boards, wrapping up the individual event wins for Louisville. Larsen (48.84), Dennis (47.27), Albiero (47.89), and Welch (48.26) held off Tennessee’s Spink (47.68), Emily Armen (49.03), Fuller (48.34), and Douthwright (48.14) to win the 400 freestyle relay, swimming a pool record 3:12.26 to the Volunteers’ 3:13.19.
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Mona McSharry, an Olympic bronze medallist and an integral piece of Tennessee’s relays, did not make the trip.
Men’s Recap
The men’s meet was a more lopsided affair, as the Cardinals knocked off the higher-ranked Volunteers team by 57 points, 178.5-121.5. It was as close as it could be at the start though, as Tennessee and Louisville tied in the opening 200 medley relay in 1:23.96.
Louisville built up a lead in the front half of the race with Yassin Abdelghany (21.87) and Denis Petrashov (23.23) out-splitting Tennesee’s Harrison Lierz (21.95) and Kevin Houseman (23.69). Dalton Lowe eked out a bigger lead for the Cardinals, out-splitting Jordan Crooks 19.84 to 19.99, but Gui Caribe threw down an 18.33 anchor to stop the clock at the same time as Guy Brooks (19.02).
For Tennessee, it’s the fifth-fastest swim in program history
As the Tennessee women went on their run in the first half of the meet, the Louisville men built one of their own. Eli Shoyat won the 1000 free (9:02.17) and Brooks took the 200 freestyle win in 1:33.45. Mateo Miceli won the 100 fly (46.86), then Petrashov clocked 52.01 in the 100 breast, winning by over two seconds and leading a 1-3-4 Lousiville finish.
200 butterfly specialist Martin Espernberger put a stop to the Louisville train in his signature event, swimming 1:41.82 for a dominant win in the 200 fly and moving to fourth-fastest in the league this season. But Louisville didn’t cede much ground, getting a 2-3 finish from freshman Gregg Enoch (1:43.28) and junior Tommy Bried (1:44.62).
Then, Tennessee went to work in the sprint freestyle, their best events. Crooks soared past the fastest time in the league this season with a sizzling 19.07 50 freestyle. Behind him, DII champion Lamar Taylor notched a second-place finish in his DI debut with a 19.45. Caribe earned the win in the 100 freestyle (42.15) as Brooks (42.89), Nikoli Blackman (42.97), and Taylor (43.07) fought for placement behind him.
Louisville got right back to their winning ways in the 200s of stroke. Freshman Filip Kosinski led a 1-2 finish for the Cardinals in the 200 backstroke in 1:42.74, and Petrashov completed the breaststroke sweep with a 1:54.04 in the 200 as the Cardinals again finished 1-2.
Crooks earned Tennessee’s only other swimming individual event win in the 100 butterfly in 45.76. Bennett Greene won the 3-meter board, but the rest of the individual events all went to the Cardinals. Shoyat finished his sweep of the distance races (500 free, 4:19.38) and Enoch swam 1:44.58 to run away with the 200 IM. He now sits at fifth-fastest in the NCAA.
Tennessee’s sprinters were back at it in the 400 freestyle relay, swimming a pool record 2:49.23 to not only run away with the win in the final event but take over as the fastest time in the league. Caribe (42.78), Taylor (42.61), Blackman (42.65), and Crooks (41.19) are the only squad in the NCAA with an ‘A’ cut so far, and the only ones to break 2:50.
Read the full story on SwimSwam: No. 11/16 Louisville Upsets No. 5/6 Tennessee For Dual Meet Sweep