Gabi Albiero Doubles as Louisville Women Lead SMU Classic; Carson Foster Leads Texas Men to First Place
The SMU Classic held each year in early October is traditionally the first meet of the college season where swimmers don racing suits and post some swift early markers. The unique format allows only six women’s teams and six men’s teams, and each of those squads can only bring a limited number of swimmers. As usual, the Classic brought out the best in some swimmers still rounding into top form, and after the first of two days of racing, it was the University of Louisville women taking a slight lead over Southern California, while the Texas men have a comfortable edge on Missouri.
Louisville’s women have scored 150 points so far, while USC is at 142. Michigan sits third at 134, followed by Missouri (127), Miami (105) and SMU (98). Leading the way for Louisville was Gabi Albiero, the daughter of Cardinals head coach Arthur Albiero and a first-time member of the U.S. national team at the Duel in the Pool this August. Albiero led Louisville to a win in the 400 medley relay as she contributed a 50.84 butterfly leg. The team of Tristen Ulett, Cecilia Viberg, Albiero and Christina Regenauer combined to finish in 3:12.79, while USC took second (3:34.11) and Michigan finished third (3:35.19).
Later on, Albiero won the 50 freestyle in 22.17, finishing comfortably ahead of Michigan’s Lindsay Flynn (22.52) and Missouri’s Amy Feddersen (22.80). She added a 100 fly win in 51.19, with USC’s Anicka Delgado (53.06) and Michigan’s Katie Crom (53.52) rounding out the top three.
Another Louisville swimmer, Paige Hetrick, won the 200 free in 1:46.21, while Missouri’s Molly Gowans (1:47.10) and USC’s Justina Kozan (1:48.06) finished second and third, respectively, while Ulett got the win in the 100 back in 53.43 ahead of Michigan’s Casey Chung (53.80) and Missouri’s Fernanda Goeij (54.44). Louisville’s team of Hetrick, Rye Ulett, Paige Kuwata and Tristen Ulett won the 800 free relay in 7:12.52.
Kaitlyn Dobler, the USC junior who was last year’s NCAA champion in the 100 breaststroke, split 57.66 on the Trojans’ 400 medley relay, and then she won the 100 breast in 59.09. Miami’s Tara Vovk was second in 59.80, and Viberg placed third in 1:00.67. Another Trojan, Isabelle Odgers, won the 400 IM as she used a huge last 50 to overtake Michigan’s Kathryn Ackerman. Ackerman placed second (4:11.26), with Goeij third (4:18.53).
Miami’s Mia Vallee won 3-meter diving with a score of 332.95. Missouri’s Kamryn Wong was second (310.45), with USC’s Lina Sculti third (302.50).
On the men’s side, Texas unsurprisingly owns a comfortable lead halfway through the meet. The Longhorns have 160 points already, with Missouri currently on top of a tight battle for second with 136.5 points. Michigan (133), Texas A&M (129.5), Louisville (111) and SMU (95) are also in the meet.
Longhorns star Carson Foster got his season off to a strong start as he won the 400 IM in 3:38.79, with Texas A&M’s Anze Fers Erzen (3:44.42) and SMU’s Colin Feehery (3:46.44) coming in behind him. Later on, Foster made a rare 100 backstroke appearance, and he had enough to edge out Missouri’s Jack Dahlgren, 46.18 to 46.53, with Texas A&M’s Ethan Gogulski third (46.78).
Caspar Corbeau took the 100 breast win for Texas in 52.58, just ahead of Louisville’s Denis Petrashov (52.72) and Texas A&M’s Andres Puente Bustamante (52.87). Texas also posted a pair of relay wins, with Chris O’Connor, Corbeau, Cole Crane and Danny Krueger taking the 400 medley relay in 3:07.25. Corbeau went 51.71 on breaststroke, while Krueger finished in 41.94. Texas A&M placed second in 3:08.49, and Louisville was third in 3:09.28.
Later on, Luke Hobson, Krueger, Coby Carrozza and Foster combined to swim a time of 6:19.24 for a comfortable 800 free relay win over Missouri (6:26.66) and Louisville (6:28.31). Hobson, Carrozza and Foster all swam 1:46 or better in the long course 200-meter free this year, making them among the top swimmers in the country in the event, while the sprint-specialist Krueger replaces Drew Kibler, the Texas graduate who won the NCAA title in the 200 free last year. Krueger held his own here, but Foster was brilliant with a 1:32.64 split in his last race of the day.
In the individual 200 free, Dahlgren held off Hobson, 1:33.48 to 1:33.94, in a high-profile showdown, while Michigan’s Gal Cohen Groumi was third in 1:35.03. Missouri got another win from Clement Secchi in the 100 back as he swam a time of 46.18 to down Cohen Groumi (46.48) and Dalton Lowe (46.78). Michigan’s Bence Szabados finished a tenth ahead of Krueger in the 50 free, 19.59 to 19.69, while Abdelrahman El-Araby claimed third in 20.04. In diving, Michigan’s Camero Gammage won 1-meter with a score of 346.40, while Texas’ Noah Duperre took second (329.05) and SMU’s Peter Smithson) got third (312.10).