Irish men notch signature team win against ranked Louisville

This past weekend, No. 17/NR Notre Dame swim and dive traveled down south to Kentucky to take on the No. 12/3 Louisville Cardinals. The Irish split the meet, as the men came away with a huge 162-138 victory that makes them 5-0 on the season. The women fell 218-82, putting their overall record at 2-3. On both the men’s and women’s sides, Notre Dame was unable to win the gold in any relay, settling for second place in most. However, the Irish had a strong showing from their typical male contributors and the divers helped secure a signature victory against the Cardinals.

The first win of the night came from none other than junior Chris Guiliano, who claimed the gold in the 200 freestyle (1:37.05) with graduate student Cason Wilburn close behind him in the second spot (1:38.39). Guiliano went on win the 100 freestyle later in the night (43.10) and claimed an NCAA B-cut at the meet. Another freestyle contributor was graduate student Abdelrahman El-Araby, who placed second in the 100 freestyle (43.90) and won the 50 freestyle (19.74), gaining an NCAA B-cut.

The Irish men dominated the 100 backstroke, with a sweep of the top three spots. Sophomore Tommy Janton claimed first with a time of 46.96 and an NCAA B cut, while graduate student Tanner Filion (47.48) and sophomore Marcus Gentry (47.49) settled for the second and third spots. The trio would repeat this sweep once again in the 200 backstroke with the same finishing order. Janton earned another NCAA B-cut with a first-place time of 1:43.95.

For the male divers, graduate student Carlo Lopez Hernandez captured a much-needed win in the 1 meter with 346.95. Sophomore Benedict Nguyen also delivered a first-place finish in the 3 meter with 370.73, helping the men secure their victory over the Cardinals. Those were season-best scores for both men.

The Irish swept the top four spots in the 200 IM, with Filion in first (1:47.94) to claim his third podium spot of the meet. Sophomore Dillon Edge (1:48.51) and senior Tyler Christianson (1:48.55) took second and third.

Though the women had a tough loss, juniors Madelyn Christman (55.07) and Jessica Geriane (55.29) went one-two in the 100 backstroke. Cristman also claimed second in the 200 backstroke with a time of 1:59.99.

After a week off, Notre Dame swim will head out to Columbus for the annual Ohio State Fall Invitational, while the divers venture down the state for the IUPUI House of Champions Invite. Both meets will take place from Nov. 16-18 and serve as an opportunity to achieve more NCAA cuts and perfect the diving order in anticipation of the postseason.

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