Tatiana Salcutan, an Olympian from Moldova, is transferring to the University of South Carolina. She is leaving Louisville, where she swam with the Cardinals for the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 seasons. Salcutan is a backstroke specialist. She competed at the 2021 Olympics in the 100 and 200 meter backstrokes, representing Moldova.
Salcutan’s personal best in the 100 yard back comes from the 2021 ACC Championships, where she posted a 53.44 and finished 14th. At that same meet, she swam the 200 back in a new personal best of 1:54.04, coming in sixth place. About a year later, at the 2022 Tennessee Last Chance meet, she lowered her best time by .07 seconds.
At the 2021 Olympic Games, Salcutan competed in the 100 and 200 meter backstrokes. In the 100, she set a new personal best of 1:01.59 and placed 28th. Her previous best was a 1:01.64 which she set at the LEN European Aquatics Championships in May of 2021. In the 200 back, she went a 2:09.98 in prelims finishing 11th and qualifying for semifinals. There, she added .11 seconds to her morning time, going a 2:10.09 and remaining in 11th. Her previous best in that event was a 2:10.29 from the 2019 World Championships in Gwangju.
Salcutan was one of Louisville’s top backstrokers the past two seasons. In 2022, they sent 3 swimmers to NCAA’s in the 200 backstroke. Sophomore Paige Hetrick placed 12th and Freshman Rye Ulett finished 16th. In the 100 back, Hetrick and Salcutan were the only two entrants for Louisville, placing 43rd and 53rd respectively.