By Robert Gibbs on SwimSwam
It’s that time of the year again. SwimSwam will be previewing the top 12 men’s and women’s teams (and then some) from the 2026 NCAA Championships. Follow along with the College Swimming Preview Channel. Want to read even more? Check out the latest edition of the SwimSwam magazine.
Men’s #12: Louisville Cardinals
Key Losses: Guy Brooks (6 NCAA points — free), Jackson Millard (9 NCAA points — IM), Tommy Bried (IM/fly), Aidan Paro (Virginia Tech transfer — fly), Charlie Crush (sprint free/back)
Key Additions: BOTR Chase Knopf (KY — back) Ethan Gover (KY — sprint free), Aidan Kaplan (IL — sprint free/fly), Lucas Jue (CA — free/IM)
Grading Criteria
Over the years, we’ve gone back and forth on how to project points, ranging from largely subjective rankings to more data-based grading criteria based on ‘projected returning points.’ We like being as objective as possible, but we’re going to stick with the approach we’ve adopted post-Covid. The “stars” will rely heavily on what swimmers actually did last year, but we’ll also give credit to returning swimmers or freshmen who have posted times that would have scored last year.
Since we only profile the top 12 teams in this format, our grades are designed with that range in mind. In the grand scheme of college swimming and compared to all other college programs, top 12 NCAA programs would pretty much all grade well across the board. But in the interest of making these previews informative, our grading scale is tough – designed to show the tiers between the good stroke groups, the great ones, and the 2015 Texas fly group types.
5 star (★★★★★) – a rare, elite NCAA group projected to score 25+ points per event 4 star (★★★★) – a very, very good NCAA group projected to score 15-24 points per event 3 star (★★★) – a good NCAA group projected to score 5-14 points per event 2 star (★★) – a solid NCAA group projected to score 1-4 points per event 1 star (★) – an NCAA group that is projected to score no points per event, though that doesn’t mean it’s without potential scorers – they’ll just need to leapfrog some swimmers ahead of them to do itWe’ll grade each event discipline: sprint free (which we define to include all the relay-distance freestyle events, so 50, 100 and 200), distance free, IM, breaststroke, backstroke, butterfly and diving. Use these grades as a jumping-off point for discussion, rather than a reason to be angry.
Also, keep in mind that we are publishing many of these previews before teams have posted finalized rosters. We’re making our assessments based on the best information we have available at the time of publication, but we reserve the right to make changes after publication based on any new information that may emerge regarding rosters. If that does happen, we’ll make certain to note the change.
The final note is that we are not including athletes who graduated last spring after exhausting their college eligibility despite ongoing lawsuits against the NCAA regarding the new “Five-for-Five” rule.
2025-26 Lookback
The Cardinals finished 12th at the 2026 NCAA Championships with 83 points, only three behind 11th-place Virginia Tech, after taking 4th at the ACC Championships. That 12th-place finish was their best since 2022, when they also finished 12th.
Nikita Sheremet was a revelation in his freshman campaign, scoring 17 points, while Jackson Millard and Guy Brooks rounded out the Cardinals’ top three scorers.
As has been the norm the last decade or so, the Cardinals demonstrated strong relay depth, finishing 8th in the 200 free relay, 11th in the 200 medley relay, 15th in the 400 medley relay and the 400 free relay, and 20th in the 800 free relay,
The Cardinals probably have an uphill climb to return to the top 10 after losing Millard, Brooks, and NCAA qualifier Tommy Bried, but Arthur Albiero & Co. have made a habit out of exceeding expectations.
Sprint Freestyle: ★★★
This group starts with Nikita Sheremet, who arrived in Louisville with a World Junior title in the 50 freestyle and immediately became one of the country’s best collegiate sprinters.
Sheremet entered NCAAs at 18.71 in the 50 free and 41.39 in the 100 free. At NCAAs, he made the 50 free final and ultimately placed 7th (18.65), and he also put points on the board in the 100 free in 12th (41.41). That gives Louisville a legitimate ‘A’ final threat in the 50 and scoring potential in the 100 before considering any sophomore improvement.
Matias Santiso returns after posting bests of 42.94/1:34.63 in the 100/200 free last season, while Aiden Musso gives the Cardinals another high-end sprint option with a 19.26 50 free and an 18.52 relay split. Ethan Chauliaguet adds some returning sprint depth after dropping to 19.56 in the 50 free as a freshman. That could put him in the mix for Louisville’s 200 free relay as the Cardinals look to replace Guy Brooks and Charlie Crush.
Incoming freshman Aidan Kaplan adds another young sprint option after dropping to 20.05/44.06 in the 50/100 free during his senior season. Additionally, in-state freshman Ethan Gover made significant progress during his high school senior season, dropping to 20.14/44.15/1:36.79 in the 50/100/200 freestyles.
Distance Freestyle: ★
Although the Cardinals have had some distance freestyle success over the years, distance was not a major source of NCAA production last season, although they do return one NCAA splash.
That swim came from Gregg Enoch, who finished 42nd in the 500 free with a 4:21.55, four seconds off his best of 4:17.52.
Oscar Isberg is probably the most interesting developmental piece. As a freshman last season, he hit bests of 4:14.90/15:11.65, with that 500 free time not far off from what it took to qualify for NCAAs.
Kayden Lancaster gives Louisville another returning distance option after going 15:14.78 in the 1650 at ACCs, just behind Isberg. Max Hatcher adds more depth with lifetime bests of 4:21.06 in the 500 free and 15:10.41 in the 1650.
Freshman Lucas Jue could also contribute to Louisville’s distance depth; his 500 free time of 4:21.66 is almost two years old, and he’s been 15:28.98 in the 1650.
Backstroke: ★
Filip Kosinski leads the group after dropping to 1:39.72 in the 200 back at Louisville’s Last Chance meet, putting him almost in range of NCAA qualifying, and not far off of the 1:39.29 it took to score last year. He’s also been 45.82 in the 100 back, but that actually puts him at #2 on the depth chart, as Rian Graham went 45.67 last year and led off the Cardinals’ 400 medley relay.
Nate Thomas could develop in the 200 back after going 1:43.82 late last season along with a 47.42 in the 100.
Incoming freshman Chase Knopf adds depth with bests of 50.18/1:46.67. Those times don’t put him in the NCAA picture yet, but give the Cardinals another young backstroker to develop.
Breaststroke: ★★
Jake Eccleston led the way for the Cardinals in this discipline, qualifying individually for NCAAs as a sophomore with a 1:52.10 200 breast, then finished 14th nationally to score three individual points in 1:51.96. That makes him one of only three returning Louisville swimmers who scored individually at the 2026 NCAAs.
Behind Eccleston, sophomore Finnley Conklin gives Louisville another intriguing option after dropping to 51.94/1:53.43 last year. He also earned Second Team All-America honors as the breaststroke leg of the Cardinals’ 200 medley relay with a 23.30 split. Conklin continued to improve over the summer, posting long course bests of 1:00.32 in the 100 breast and 2:08.94 in the 200 breast at the US Nationals, making him a legitimate candidate for a significant sophomore jump.
Behind Eccleston and Conklin, Ryder Hicks provides some younger depth after dropping to 1:55.75 in the 200 breast as a freshman.
Butterfly: ★★
Louisville loses Aidan Paro to Virginia Tech, but the Cardinals still return a pair of sub-45 100 flyers in Rian Graham and Aiden Musso. Graham leads the way after dropping to 44.93 at Louisville’s Last Chance meet, the second-fastest performance in program history, while Musso was just four hundredths behind at 44.97. Neither raced the event individually at NCAAs, but both were important pieces of Louisville’s NCAA relay lineup.
Bryan Lombardi gives Louisville another young option behind Graham and Musso in the 100 fly after dropping to 46.52 at the Cardinals’ Last Chance meet.
The bigger question comes in the 200 fly, where Louisville loses Tommy Bried and doesn’t have the same obvious national-level depth. However, both Gregg Enoch (1:42.00) and Aidan Paro (1:42.76) have ACC-scoring times.
Freshman Aidan Kaplan also gives Louisville another developmental piece in the 100 fly, where he owns a 46.89 in yards and dropped to 53.54 in long course over the summer.
Individual Medley: ★★
The IM group takes perhaps the biggest hit from Louisville’s offseason departures. The Cardinals sent three swimmers to NCAAs in the 400 IM last season, led by Jackson Millard’s 3:39.11, with Tommy Bried (3:40.15) and Gregg Enoch (3:40.21) close behind. With Millard and Bried gone, Enoch is the lone NCAA qualifier returning from that trio.
Enoch also gives Louisville some upside here. He scored a point in the 200 IM at NCAAs last season and, after arriving at Louisville as one of the more versatile swimmers in his recruiting class, has increasingly found a home in the IM events. Now entering his junior season, he’ll have the opportunity to move from being one piece of a deep IM group to its clear leader.
The question is what develops behind him. Louisville had the luxury of putting three swimmers under 3:41 in the 400 IM last season; replacing that depth will be difficult.
Diving: ★★
The Cardinals’ diving crew played a big part in Louisville’s postseason. The divers scored 105 diving points at ACCs, a significant piece of their 844-point team total.
Louisville ultimately scored four diving points at NCAAs, with those points coming from junior Rayce Winn‘s 13th-place finish in the 1m event.
Ray Preas won the ACC platform title and qualified for NCAAs, finishing 35th in that event.
Relays: ★★★
Louisville has traditionally been a strong relay team, and last season was no exception. The Cardinals scored 42 relay points at NCAAs, accounting for more than half of their 82-point total, and they return most of the pieces from those relays.
The biggest loss is Guy Brooks, who split 41.39 on the 400 free relay and led off the ACC 800 free relay in 1:31.91. Charlie Crush is also gone after splitting 18.76 on the NCAA 200 free relay and leading off the 200 medley relay in 20.81.
Even with those losses, the sprint relays should remain a strength. Louisville returns three sub-19 legs from its eighth-place 200 free relay in Nikita Sheremet, Aiden Musso and Rian Graham, including Musso’s 18.52 split. Matias Santiso, who has previously split 19.13, is one option to replace Crush, and the Cardinals will have several other young sprinters competing for that spot.
Santiso could also step into Brooks’ spot on the 400 free relay after splitting 42.58 last season. Sheremet, Musso and Graham all return from the NCAA quartet, so Louisville really only needs to find one leg there.
The 400 medley relay is even more straightforward, as Louisville returns all four swimmers from the 3:02.83 quartet of Graham, Jake Eccleston, Musso and Sheremet. There could still be some shuffling. Graham split 45.96 on backstroke last season, but has since dropped to 44.93 in the individual 100 fly. If Filip Kosinski or another backstroker can take over the leadoff leg, Louisville would have the option of moving Graham to fly, although Musso was already 44.68 on that leg at NCAAs.
The shorter medley has a more obvious hole to fill after losing Crush and his 20.81 backstroke split. Finnley Conklin split 23.30 on breaststroke, Musso was 20.05 on fly and Sheremet anchored in 18.06 as Louisville finished 11th at NCAAs. All three return, so once again the question is whether Louisville can find a strong backstroke leadoff. Rian Graham could be the answer, though, as he went 21.16 leading off in a dual meet against Notre Dame in the fall.
The 800 free relay has more work to do. Brooks led off in 1:31.91 at ACCs, well ahead of Oscar Isberg (1:33.23), Santiso (1:34.02) and Gregg Enoch (1:33.54). All three of those swimmers return, but the Cardinals will need some improvement there, especially after the relay finished only 20th at NCAAs.
Overall, Louisville isn’t facing a major relay rebuild. The Cardinals need to replace one leg on the 200 free, 400 free and 200 medley relays, while the entire 400 medley returns. The 800 free relay remains the biggest question mark, but with Sheremet leading a young sprint group and Musso and Graham both coming off strong sophomore seasons, the relays should once again account for a significant portion of Louisville’s NCAA scoring.
Total Stars: 16/40
2026-27 Outlook
Those losses leave Louisville with fewer proven NCAA scorers than it had a year ago, but there is still plenty of upside among the swimmers coming back.
Nikita Sheremet leads that group after scoring 17 NCAA points as a freshman. Jake Eccleston has already proven he can score at this level, including a 6th place finish in the 200 breast as a freshman, while Gregg Enoch returns after qualifying in both IM events last season. Filip Kosinski is knocking on the door of an NCAA invite in the 200 back, and Aiden Musso has shown he can fly on the relays. There are also swimmers like Oscar Isberg farther down the lineup who still have plenty of room to develop.
That gives Louisville a path back toward the top 10, but it will require several of those younger swimmers to turn potential into NCAA points.
Put it all together, and Louisville probably has a wider range of outcomes than we’re accustomed to seeing from the Cardinals. They don’t have obvious replacements for all of the points they lost, and the incoming class doesn’t appear likely to provide a bunch of immediate NCAA scoring.
What they do have is a young returning group that has already shown flashes at the NCAA level, along with a program that has consistently developed swimmers into national scorers. If a few of those swimmers take the next step, Louisville should be right back in the battle for the top 10. If not, there are enough points walking out the door that the Cardinals could easily get swallowed up in a crowded group fighting for spots in the top 15.
MEN’S 2026-27 COLLEGE PREVIEW INDEX
RANK (2026) TEAM SPRINT FREE DISTANCE FREE BACK BREAST FLY IM DIVING RELAY TOTAL 1 Texas Longhorns 2 Florida Gators 3 Indiana Hoosiers 4 Arizona State Sun Devils 5 Tennessee Volunteers 6 NC State Wolfpack 7 Cal Golden Bears 8 Michigan Wolverines 9 Virginia Cavaliers 10 Stanford Cardinal 11 Virginia Tech Hokies 12 Louisville Cardinals ★★★ ★ ★ ★★ ★ ★ ★★ ★★ ★★★ 16/40Read the full story on SwimSwam: 2026-27 College Swimming Previews: #12 Louisville Men Aiming to Build on Returning Relay Core
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