LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A pair of University of Louisville swimmers shared their thoughts about the upcoming Olympic Summer Games in Tokyo Friday. 

What You Need To Know

  • Zach Harting is a 15-time All-American and 3-time ACC Champion at UofL with an extensive international career

  • Andrej Barna is a 17-time All-American and four-time ACC Champion for UofL.

  • The Summer Olympics in Tokyo begin Friday July 23 and end on Sunday August 8

  • Point 4 goes here

Zach Harting (USA) and Andrej Barna (Serbia) joined Cardinal swimming and diving head coach Arthur Albiero addressed the media Friday afternoon at Ralph Wright Natatorium on UofL’s campus.

“I started swimming when I was seven and it was my dream to represent the United States at the Olympics,” said Harting. 

Harting won the 200m butterfly at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials. This qualified him to represent the United States at the 2021 Olympic games in Tokyo.

Barna said in Friday’s news conference that the extra time allowed him to train and recover more in order to qualify for the Olympics for the Serbian team.

Both Cardinals are looking forward to sharing experiences in Tokyo and will be rooting for their fellow Cardinals when they have the chance.

“I mean for me it is going to be easy because I don’t think we have anyone from Serbia swimming in the 200m butterfly, the only guy we had doesn’t want to focus on the 200m butterfly, so I’ll obviously be rooting for Zach. He’s the guy who’s going to do something big,” said Barna.

Harting shared a similar sentiment with him pulling for both Team USA members and his Cardinal teammates.

"I train with these guys on a daily basis so I’m not going to not root for them. I’m not going to be super loud but if we don’t have anyone in the heat, they’re going to get my support and if we do have someone in the heat they’ll still get my support,” said Harting.

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