LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The swimming portion of the BIG EAST Swimming & Diving Championships kicked off tonight with the 800-yard freestyle relay and the 200-yard medley relay finals. Louisville jumps ahead in the women’s team standings with 145 points, while Notre Dame leads the men with 191 points at the Ralph R. Wright Natatorium on the University of Louisville campus.
The women’s 800 freestyle relay final came down to the final 50 as West Virginia gained ground on Louisville, but was unable to catch UofL with Sarah Andrews touching in at 7:11.10 for the Cardinals, narrowly edging Rachael Burnett at 7:11.32. Louisville claims the BIG EAST Championship record in the event as the Cardinal team of Lindsey Laporte, Breann McDowell, Eszter Povazsay and Andrews beat the previous record of 7:10.03 set by West Virginia in 2010.
The Mountaineers took second-place, while Villanova finished third with a time of 7:15.97.
Louisville continued to smash BIG EAST records as the men posted a time of 6:23.23 in the 800 freestyle relay finals. UofL’s Brendon Andrews, Joao De Lucca, Alex Burtch and Carlos Almeida broke the record of 6:27.19 set by Notre Dame in 2009. The Fighting Irish took second with a time of 6:29.10, while West Virginia claimed third place at 6:32.22.
The night wrapped up with the 200-yard medley relay finals with Louisville capturing BIG EAST Championship titles for both the women and men. The Cardinal women collected its second BIG EAST Championship record of the night, touching the wall at 1:38.43 to edge the Irish, who finished at 1:38.97. The Cardinal team of Kristina Brandenburg, Therese Bergstrom, Lorraine Thompson and Aileen Cole surpassed the previous record of 1:39.31 set in 2010 by Notre Dame. Third-place went to Pittsburgh with a time of 1:42.34. All three were NCAA B-cut times.
On the men’s side, Louisville and West Virginia were neck-and-neck coming down the final stretch, but UofL’s Matthew Schlytter held off WVU’s Tim Squires with a time of 1:27.86. The BIG EAST 200 medley relay crown went to the Cardinal foursome of Brendon Andrews, Kameron Chastain, Pedro Oliveira and Schlytter. The Mountaineers tapped in at 1:27.99. Pitt took third with a time of 1:28.65, while ND came in at 1:28.86 to post a B-cut time.
BIG EAST Championship swimming action continues tomorrow with the 500-yard freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50-yard freestyle and 200-yard freestyle relay. Prelims begin at 10 a.m., followed by the finals at 6 p.m.
Men’s Team Standings
Rank Team Score
1 Notre Dame 191
2 Pittsburgh 157
3 Louisville 133
4 West Virginia 93
5 Connecticut 56
6 Georgetown 53
7 Seton Hall 51
8 Cincinnati 47
9 Villanova 36
10 Providence 29
Women’s Team Standings
Rank Team Score
1 Louisville 145
2 Notre Dame 132
3 Pittsburgh 111
4 Rutgers 101
5 Connecticut 86
6 Cincinnati 78
7 Villanova 64
8 West Virginia 62
9 Georgetown 38
10 Seton Hall 35
11 Providence 29
Men’s 800-Yard Freestyle Relay Final Results
Place Team Time Points
1 Louisville 6:23.23 40
2 Notre Dame 6:29.10 34
3 West Virginia 6:32.22 32
4 Pittsburgh 6:38.30 30
5 Connecticut 6:39.71 28
6 Georgetown 6:45.95 26
t7 Cincinnati 6:46.51 23
t7 Seton Hall 6:46.51 23
9 Villanova 6:48.22 18
Women’s 800-Yard Freestyle Relay Final Results
Place Team Time Points
1 Louisville 7:11.10 40
2 West Virginia 7:11.32 34
3 Villanova 7:15.97 32
4 Notre Dame 7:19.79 30
t5 Pittsburgh 7:27.69 27
t5 Connecticut 7:27.69 27
7 Rutgers 7:27.85 24
8 Cincinnati 7:30.06 22
9 Georgetown 7:33.57 18
Men’s 200-yard Medley Relay Final Results
Place Team Time Points
1 Louisville 1:27.86 40
2 West Virginia 1:27.99 34
3 Pittsburgh 1:28.65 32
4 Notre Dame 1:28.86 30
5 Seton Hall 1:32.02 28
6 Georgetown 1:32.13 26
7 Cincinnati 1:32.82 24
8 Connecticut 1:33.55 22
9 Villanova 1:36.49 18
10 Providence 1:38.15 14
Women’s 200-yard Medley Relay Final Results
Place Team Time Points
1 Louisville 1:38.43 40
2 Notre Dame 1:38.97 34
3 Pittsburgh 1:42.34 32
4 Villanova 1:42.83 30
5 West Virginia 1:43.22 28
6 Rutgers 1:43.36 26
7 Connecticut 1:43.78 24
8 Cincinnati 1:44.54 22
9 Seton Hall 1:46.09 18
10 Georgetown 1:47.42 14
11 Providence 1:50.68 12
