By Terin Frodyma on SwimSwam
Louisville Last Chance Meet
February 27-28, 2026 Ralph Wright Natatorium, Louisville, KY SCY (25 yards) “UofL Last Chance Meet” on Meet MobileJust weeks out from the women’s and men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships, Louisville hosted a last chance meet, which saw several swimmers put their names firmly in contention to compete at those championships later this month. Among those was Notre Dame’s Marcus Reyes-Gentry, who clocked a major 100 back best to secure an NCAA championships bid.
Reyes-Gentry secured just his 2nd ever sub-45-second 100 backstroke of his career in 44.59 to move up to the 14th fastest performer in the NCAA this season. This time, he took nearly three tenths off of his newly set career best from ACCs last week in 44.87, which he swam in prelims, later finishing 8th in finals in 45.06.
With the absence of Notre Dame from the men’s swimming landscape a season ago, Reyes-Gentry had only been as fast as 45.12 from the ACC championships in 2024. This season has been a roller coaster in the 100 back for Reyes-Gentry. Prior to ACCs, he had only been sub-46 once, at a January dual with Kentucky, where he was 45.69.
That 2026 ACC time of 44.87 would only rank as the 25th fastest performer in the event today, meaning he has likely locked in a spot at the NCAA Championships, the 2nd appearance of his career.
Several Louisville men put themselves into contention to reach NCAAs, Finnley Conklin took one last crack at the 100 breast, and finally broke the 52-second barrier in 51.72, dropping from his ACC time and lifetime best of 52.16. That former best would be tied for 58th this season, but with the significant drop, Conklin now sits in a three-way tie for 33rd, and could be on the cusp of an NCAA championships invite.
Since joining the Cardinals, Conklin has continued to improve in this race, entering college with a best of 53.54, and swimming under that time 15 times in his freshman season. Conklin joins a tight group with Cal’s Zachary Tan and LSU’s Levi Thome at 51.72.
Someone equally on that cusp is Conklin’s teammate Oscar Isberg, who notched a career best in the 500 free in 4:14.90, besting his best from November’s Ohio State Invitational of 4:15.05. This performance leapfrogged him into 33rd in the NCAA this season.
Isberg has been all over the place in the 500 this season, fluctuating between sub 4:20 times and 4:23-4:25 throughout his first season in Louisville. Isberg is coming off a 7th-place finish in this event at ACCs, where he finished in 4:21.64.
Cardinal’s sophomore Rian Graham clocked a lifetime best of his own on the meet in the 100 fly, besting his week-old best time of 44.99, which earned him a 6th place finish at ACCs. The improvements move him up to 25th in the NCAA, and will likely be inside of the 2026 NCAA Championships cutline.
Someone on the outside looking in is his teammate, Aidan Paro, who took a quarter of a second off his best ever time of 45.47 in 45.23, putting him tied for 37th this season with IU Indianapolis’ (and former Louisville Cardinal) Yassin Abdelghany. The difference between the being that Abdelghany won the Horizon League Championship title and was under the NCAA qualifying time, automatically punching his ticket to the NCAA championships.
Louisville continued their strong showing with Filip Kosinski firmly putting himself on the cusp of an NCAA invite position, clocking his fastest 200 back of the season by over seven tenths of a second in 1:39.72, making him the 29th fastest performer this season, This time also marks a lifetime best for the first time since this meet last year when he clocked 1:39.99, a time that got him to the NCAA Championships. Until the ACC Championships (1:40.44), Kosinski hadn’t been below 1:40.65 all season.
On the women’s side, Louisville’s Summer Cardwell delivered a significant drop in the 200 freestyle. After placing 12th at ACCs in 1:44.75, she lowered her lifetime best to 1:43.72 — the first sub-1:44 swim of her career — moving to 36th in the NCAA this season. Entering the meet, her NCAA invite outlook appeared unlikely, but this performance substantially strengthens her case.
Notre Dame’s Emily Hamill had one of the more significant movements in the event rankings after taking a near second off of her 200 back best time in 1:52.93. This time slots her at #35 in the country this season, which may be enough to sneak in under the cutline.
This performance marks her 5th time under 1:54 in her career, and moves her up from a potential mid 70s position into the top 35 nationally.
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