The Cardinals secured fourth place with 235 points, which was also the most points scored by a Louisville team at the NCAA Championships in history.

“We battled so many different things this season, but this group continued to find different ways to perform,” said UofLĚýhead coachĚý. “Ěýput together an incredible performance in the 200 fly,ĚýĚýwon the 100 free. If I remember correctly, the last time the 100 and 200 free were won together was by Joao de Lucca in this pool. I’m so proud of this group and this staff, it starts with all of them and the support we have from the administration.”

Albiero noted that the team first qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2008 and scored just one point.

“Now, 11 years later, to be here and to be standing with the elite of the elite is incredible. I’m honored to be a part of this, it has been a great journey,” he said.Ěý
Ěý

With the fourth NCAA championship of her career, Comerford ties OlympianĚýĚýDahlia for the most NCAA titles won by a UofL swimmer. In the final individual race of her collegiate career, she secured the gold medal with a time of 46.26, three-tenths of a second over Arkansas freshman Anna Hopkin.
Ěý
After capturing gold medals in the 100 freestyle and 200 freestyle and a bronze medal in the 50 freestyle, Comerford has now won a medal in each of her individual NCAA events for the first time in her career, a feat that only Worrell Dahlia had accomplished when she won two golds and a bronze at the 2015 NCAA Championships.
Ěý
JuniorĚýĚýearned the first top-three NCAA finish of her career in the 200 fly, running down the field over the final 25 to capture the bronze medal in a time of 1:50.80. Oglesby’s time also solidified her as the fifth-fastest performer in history.
Ěý
In the B final of the 200 fly, freshmanĚýĚýfinished sixth for 14th overall, earning the first Honorable Mention All-American honors of her career.
Ěý
In the 1650 free,ĚýĚýfinished fourth in her heat to finish 30th overall with a time of 16:15.18.
Ěý
The Cardinals’ 400 free relay team wrapped up the historic NCAA Championships with a fifth place finish as Comerford (46.78),ĚýĚý(48.32),ĚýĚý(47.89) andĚýĚý(48.23) registered a time of 3:11.24.
Ěý
NCAA Championships notables

• Ěýwon her third straight NCAA championship in the 200 freestyle with a time of 1:40.26, becoming the first UofL swimmer in history to win three titles in a single event.
• With Comerford’s win, the Cardinals extend their streak to eight consecutive seasons with an NCAA champion.
• Comerford also won her first career title in the 100 free on the final night of NCAAs, earning her fourth NCAA championship, which ties the program record for most titles won by a Cardinal.
• As a team, the Cardinals recorded their highest finish in program history, placing fourth with 235 points, also the most points scored at an NCAA Championships in UofL history.
• JuniorĚýĚýmade history as the Cardinals’ first diver to earn Honorable Mention All-American Honors with a 12th place finish on platform.
• JuniorĚýĚýwon her first NCAA bronze medal with a time of 1:50.80, becoming the fifth-fastest performer in history.
• The Cardinals broke a total of four records at the NCAA Championships.
  • Comerford – 50 free (21.49)
  • Ěý– 100 back (51.71), 50 back (23.96)
  • , Comerford,Ěý,ĚýĚý– 200 free relay (1:26.71)
• In the 200 free relay, Louisville recorded its best finish in program history, placing fourth with a school record time of 1:26.71.
• The Cards’ 800 free relay team ofĚý, Comerford,ĚýĚýandĚýmatched the best finish in program history with a sixth place showing in a time of 6:56.07.
• Five Cardinals earned All-American honors in a combined eight individual events.
  • Comerford (50, 100, 200 free)
  • Fears – (HM Platform)
  • Kendzior (HM 100 back)
  • Kraus – (HM 200 fly)
  • Oglesby – (100, 200 fly)
• All five UofL relays qualified for the A final for the second consecutive NCAA Championships.
• In the 800 free relay, Comerford split a 1:39.19, the second fastest 200 free split in history to her 1:39.14 from last year’s NCAAs.
• Comerford won a medal in each of her individual NCAA events for the first time in her career, a feat that only OlympianĚýĚýhad accomplished previously.

While UofL swimming may not have the same deep history, the program’s trajectory is indeed on a similar path. In the past four years alone, UofL has crowned three NCAA champions in the pool – Joao De Lucca, Kelsi Worrell and Mallory Comerford.

This trajectory can be traced back about 15 years, when head coach Arthur Albiero moved his young family to Louisville – a city he had never stepped foot in prior – to coach a swim team that had dated facilities and very few resources.

Today, the team practices at the state-of-the-art Ralph Wright Natatorium on the eastern edge of the Belknap Campus. Arthur is currently in Irvine, California, with a sizable group of Cardinals – including his son Nick – for the 2018 Phillips 66 National Championships. In August, Arthur will take on head coaching duties for the U.S. women’s swim team at the Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo.

Earlier this year, he was named ACC Women’s Swimming Coach of the Year, while Nick was voted Men’s Freshman of the Year.

In other words, Louisville swimming is now on the map, and Arthur Albiero and his family are a big reason why. Ěý

Coaching style traces back to powerhouse Kenyon College

Arthur himself was a college swimmer, winning the Division II NCAA title in the 200 Individual Medley for Oakland University, where he met his wife Amy, who was also a swimmer.Ěý

After college, the Albieros headed to Kenyon College in Ohio, where Arthur was hired as a graduate assistant under swimming giant Jim Steen. Under Steen, Kenyon College won 31 consecutive NCAA DIII national championships. No other program in any sport or division has come close to this feat.

“I called it the Jim Steen accelerated learning program. At that time, I wasn’t sure if coaching would be a career, but I knew I invested a lot of time and energy into the sport and it would be silly to put it in a box and put it away,” Arthur said.

He spent three years learning the ins and outs of Steen’s program before moving on as an assistant coach at the University of Alabama.

“I knew if I was going to coach, I wanted to coach DI. That’s where the best of the best are. The biggest shock was for me to go from Kenyon to Alabama. There’s something powerful to be said about a winning culture. You can’t quantify it, but you can see it and you can feel it and you certainly know if you don’t have it. Alabama did not have it,” Arthur said.

By his fourth year in Tuscaloosa, however, the culture started to change. Three swimmers went onto the Olympics.

After that fourth year, an opportunity to come to Louisville came up. Arthur sent his resume on a Saturday, had a phone interview on Monday, visited on Thursday and shook hands with then-AD Tom Jurich on Friday. The program had less than four full scholarships on the men’s side (the limit is 14), one assistant coach and the six-lane, antiquated Crawford Pool. The coach was excited about the idea of building something from the ground up.

With Arthur Albiero at the helm, UofL has gone from the bottom of Conference USA to the top of the Big East to the top of the ACC. This year, both the men’s and women’s teams finished in the top 10 in the country.

Nick’s rise under Coach Dad

When middle son Nick was named ACC Freshman of the Year in the spring, Arthur admits he was surprised.

“I knew he was going to get better and I knew he was going to have a great experience based on his personality, but I did not see that coming. He worked hard and he delivered exactly what we talked about,” Arthur said.

Nick said his main focus now is to keep getting a little bit better every day.

“My focus is simply enjoying the process, having fun, working hard and, whatever happens in the future happens,” Nick said.

Arthur has now had the chance to coach two of his three children at the collegiate level. His oldest, Estefan, who has since graduated, battled his way onto the Cardinal team against significant odds – an infection at age 12 and hip replacement at age 14.

“It was brutal and we almost lost him. We count our blessings every day,” Arthur said. “He started dabbling in swimming during his junior year of high school and started year-round when he was a senior and kept getting a little better. He asked what it would take to swim at UofL, I told him and he did it. He battled his way onto this team and came to work every day and contributed.”

Nick had a completely different track, Arthur said.

“He always believed he could be here alongside Kelsi (Worrell) and Mallory (Comerford) and everyone. I never stood in his way,” he said.

When Nick qualified to swim for Team USA last year, that further motivated him to focus on the ACC season.

“That experience, to swim for Team USA and to put on an American flag cap with your name on it, it’s pretty special and it really put Nick on a different trajectory,” Arthur said.Ěý

The Albieros’ youngest – daughter Gabi – is also a swimmer and, as an incoming high school junior, is starting to think about college. Last year, she won junior nationals.

“Everybody has asked her if she’ll swim in college. I have not asked that question. There will be a time and this is not the time. I want her to be a high school kid,” Arthur said.

Gabi and Nick have a close relationship, however, and Arthur concedes that Nick will likely have a big influence on her future decisions.

“I’ve had some coaches approach me to tell me that they want to recruit Gabi and I tell them to go for it. I think it’ll be hard for her to go elsewhere because of Nick,” Arthur said. “But, as a father more than a coach, that is OK. Ultimately, swimming or not, I have been thrilled with the education my children have received at the University of Louisville.”

When asked how long he can keep this pace and this success going – for UofL, Team USA and his children – Arthur only answers that the job is tough.

“What we do is intense. I’m just trying to get a little better and to make sure my swimmers are all getting a little better,” he said. “I’m a small piece of this puzzle. I have surrounded myself with great people. This is their passion. This is personal for all of us.”

The 2018 Pan Pacific Championships are Aug. 9-13 in Tokyo. This is Arthur’s biggest U.S. appointment yet after serving as head coach for the 2016 World Short Course Championships and an assistant for the 2017 World Championships. , he’s likely to have at least two Cardinals on his Team USA, Worrell and Comerford. Andrea Cottrell is also a national team member.Ěý

The UofL swimming and diving season kicks off later this fall.

Editor’s note: The Albieros were recently featured in UofL Magazine. View the summer 2018 issue here.Ěý