Anastasia Gorbenko, Nikita Sheremet Lead the Way as Louisville Downs Notre Dame
The Louisville Cardinals made the short trip to South Bend, Ind., to face off against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in ACC dual meet action and came away with a pair of wins. The Louisville women dominated, coming out on top 213-83, while the men won 188-111.
Anastasia Gorbenko continued her strong start to the season, beginning when she made a rare appearance in backstroke leading off Louisville’s 200 medley relay. Gorbenko, Caroline Larsen, Julia Ogren and Julie Mishler won that race in 1:35.39. Gorbenko then won the 200 freestyle in a swift time of 1:42.95, and she dominated the 400 IM with a mark of 4:06.34.
Thilda Haell placed first in the 1000 free, clocking 9:33.67 as she held off charging teammate Leticia Fassina Romao by a tenth. Mishler led the way in the 100 backstroke in 52.12, and Larsen topped the 100 breaststroke in 59.20. Angelina Solari took first place in the 50 free in 22.51, and Mary Clarke had the best time in the 100 free, finishing in 48.84 to defeat Notre Dame’s Hollie Widdows by two hundredths.
Xeniya Ignatova paced the field in the 200 back (1:53.95) before Anna Inagaki swam a dominant performance in the 200 breast (2:11.21). Diver Maud Van Kempen finished first on 3-meter (295.78) while Sammantha Helmboldt won 1-meter (295.50). Hall’s second win came in the 500 free (4:43.36), and Larsen returned to place first in the 100 butterfly (51.92). Larsen, Solari, Daria Golovaty and Clarke concluded the meet with a winning time of 3:13.08 in the 400 free relay.
Notre Dame’s Lainey Mullins was the only swimmer to break 2:00 in the 200 fly, a stellar 30.24 final 50 vaulting her from third place to a win by 1.56 seconds in 1:58.49. That would turn out to be her team’s only women’s win on the day.
Nikita Sheremet was the men’s standout, beginning with his 18.70 leg anchoring the Cardina’s 200 medley relay, turning a tied race after 150 yards into a win by more than a second. Filip Kosinski, Finnley Conklin and Aiden Musso joined Sheremet on the winning team. Sheremet then swam a time of 19.25 to win the 50 free, taking down Notre Dame’s Shane Eckler by a tenth. Later, Sheremet put up a time of 42.67 in the 100 free, this time beating Eckler by two tenths. Sheremet was even quicker leading off the 400 free relay, going 42.39 before giving way to Rian Graham, Musso and Aidan Kaplan. Those men combined for a winning time of 2:52.23
Oscar Isberg had Louisville’s first individual win when he held off Notre Dame’s Patrick Branon by nine hundredths in the 200 free, 1:35.45 to 1:35.54. Conklin took first in the 100 breast (53.08) while Gregg Enoch had two big wins, in the 200 fly (1:43.28) and 400 IM (3:49.57). Koskinski threw down a sub-1:40 performance in the 200 back, recording a time of 1:39.47, and Jake Eccleston touched first in the 200 breast (1:55.76). Isberg returned to win the 500 free in 4:23.22, leading a 1-2-3 sweep for the Cardinals, and Musso won the 100 fly in 45.54.
Notre Dame’s James Darcy was the only swimmer under 9:00 in the 1000 free, finishing in 8:59.82. Marcus Reyes-Gentry took first in the 100 back for the Fighting Irish in 45.51, and diver Daniel Knapp was first on 1-meter (368.48) and 3-meter (396.75).
