Louisville Takes Down Notre Dame in Friday Duals

Tanja Kylliainen Women's NCAA Division I Championships

LOUISVILLE, Kentucky, January 24. LOUISVILLE swimming and diving continues to blaze through the 2013-2014 season, winning multiple events today in the home dual meet against Notre Dame.

With an NCAA champion and a few top-eight NCAA final contenders on its roster, the Louisville men’s team had no trouble taking down Notre Dame, 186-114. The women’s team, featuring a USA Swimming national champion in Kelsi Worrell, also defeated Notre Dame, 171-129.

Joao De Lucca, the reigning NCAA champion in the 200 free, won that event with a 1:36.96. It’s much slower than the 1:31.65 he swam at USA nationals last month and the 1:33.66 he posted last week at the SMU Classic, but is still a solid swim. De Lucca returned to win the 100 free with a solid 43.57 after placing second to teammate Caryle Blondell in the 50, 19.96 to 20.20. (Blondell was second in the 100 with a 43.67.)

Also getting two wins for Louisville were Kameron Chastain and Bryan Draganosky. Chastain swept the breaststroke events with times of 54.16 and 1:58.95. Draganosky won the 1000 free by five seconds with a 9:17.82, and watched teammate Jake Schultz out-touch Notre Dame’s Brennan Jacobsen at the finish, 9:22.64 to 9:22.67. Draganosky had a race of his own in the 500 free, holding off Notre Dame’s Kevin Hughes for the win with a 4:34.32 to Hughes’ 4:34.54.

Notre Dame’s event wins came in the 3-meter diving event from Nick Nemetz (349.35 points), from John Williamson in the 200 fly (1:47.62), Frank Dyer in the 100 fly (49.03) and Zach Stephens in the 200 IM (1:49.26).

On the women’s side, Louisville kept Notre Dame at bay with wins in every event that the Irish’s Emma Reaney didn’t swim, as well as both diving events. For Reaney, it continued a strong season that has her at the top of the collegiate standings so far this season in the 200 breast with a 2:05.85. Today, she had a battle in the event with Louisville’s Gisselle Kohoyda, and the lead changed throughout the race before Reaney got the wall first in the end with a 2:11.12 to Kohoyda’s 2:11.15. Earlier in the meet, Reaney had won the 100 breast handily with a 1:01.01 (Kohoyda was sixth with a 1:06.89), and topped it off with a 2:02.27 in the 200 IM.

Louisville’s Kelsi Worrell, the USA Swimming national champion in the 200 fly, won two sprint events today. She took the 100 fly by more than three seconds with a 53.44 and the 50 free in 22.96. In her absence, Tanja Kyllianen wonthe 200 fly for Louisville, chasing down Notre Dame’s Bridget Casey in the end with a 1:59.17 to Casey’s 1:59.36.

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