3x NCAA ‘A’ Finalist Abby Hay has announced she will return to Louisville to use her COVID-19 fifth year of eligibility this fall. Hay made the announcement on Instagram.
Hay spent her first four years at Louisville as well, developing into one of their highest scorers at NCAAs. As a freshman during the 2019-2020 season, Hay scored 62 points at ACCs, the fifth-highest for Louisville. She qualified for 2020 NCAAs, that ended up being canceled, and was the 31st seed in the 200 IM, 32nd seed in the 400 IM, and the 47th seed in the 200 fly.
As a sophomore, Hay scored 74 points at ACCs, the highest individual scorer for Louisville. She finished fourth in the 200 fly (1:55.67), fifth in the 400 IM (4:09.33), and seventh in the 200 IM (1:56.68). She went on to swim at NCAAs, finishing ninth in the 200 IM (1:56.02), 13th in the 200 fly (1:55.19), and 15th in the 400 IM (4:08.87). The three B finals brought in a total of 15 points.
Once again as a junior, Hay scored even more individual points at ACCs, tallying a total of 76. That was second-most on the team, only one point behind Gabi Albiero. There Hay was third in the 200 fly (1:54.77), fourth in the 200 IM (1:55.25), and seventh in the 400 IM (4:09.85).
Hay went on to make the A final of the 200 IM at 2022 NCAAs as she swam a 1:54.93 to finish seventh. In addition, she also was 12th in the 400 IM (4:06.35) and 14th in the 200 fly (1:54.44). She scored a total of 20 individual points.
In her senior season, Hay went on to score 80 individual points at ACCs. There she finished second in the 200 fly (1:53.51), third in the 400 IM (4:05.23), and fifth in the 200 IM (1:55.48).
At NCAAs a month ago, Hay made both the A final of the 200 IM and 200 fly. She finished seventh in the 200 IM (1:54.62) and eighth in the 200 fly (1:53.90). She also made the B final of the 400 IM where she swam a 4:06.30 for 10th. Her three final swims brought in a total of 30 points for the Cardinals who went on to finish fourth as a team.
In addition to her individual contributions, Hay also makes an impact for Louisville’s medley relays. She was on both of their medley relays at NCAAs the last 2 years as well as their 200 medley in her sophomore season.
Hay’s time progression:
| High School | Freshman | Sophomore | Junior | Senior | |
| 200 IM | 2:00.44 | 1:56.86 | 1:56.02 | 1:54.33 | 1:54.03 |
| 400 IM | 4:12.60 | 4:09.48 | 4:08.67 | 4:06.35 | 4:05.23 |
| 200 Fly | 1:58.86 | 1:57.86 | 1:55.19 | 1:54.43 | 1:53.21 |
As seen in the chart above, Hay has improved in her three best events in all four of her season at Louisville.
The Louisville Cardinals have improved upon the NCAA finishes while Hay has been there. In 2021 when Hay was a sophomore, they scored 108 points for 13th. In 2022, they scored 196.5 points for sixth, and in 2023 they scored 288 points for fourth.
The return of Hay is huge for Louisville. Based on the 2023 NCAA box score, Louisville sits only 53.5 individual points behind Stanford based on returning points. Hay’s 30 points returning bring that down to 23.5 at the individual event level.
Hay said on Instagram that she plans to “continue to work towards my Masters of Science in Accounting and Data Analytics.”
nice time drop progression