Levi Sandidge Brings Home Silver, Kicks Off the SEC Championship

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The Wildcats have brought their best to the 2026 SEC Swimming and Diving Championship the first two days, highlighted by the silver medal performance by senior Levi Sandidge, a consolation final for Kristy Pfaff, and a new program record in the men’s 200 medley relay.

Day One:

Day one was a light day of competition, easing things with the men’s 1-meter diving event. The Wildcat men saw their first points on the board thanks to freshman Gabriel Perdigao, who dove for a score of 294.70 and came in 19th place.

Day Two:

The swimming action began on Tuesday with the 1650 freestyle heats. Two freshman started us off, Sharon Guerrero Cho and Dzuigas Miskinis. Miskinis soared to an impressive third best time in program history in 14:46.91. Although he was in the first men’s heat, this would be good for the seventh best mile time overall on the afternoon.

Continuing with the men’s success was once again the distance duo of Sandidge and junior Carson Hick. Sandidge took home the silver medal with a historic program best time of 14:30.04. Sandidge, who also placed second at the 2025 SEC Championship, racked up his fourth medal in the 1650 free in his four years as a Wildcat. Hick (14:39.87) placed fourth overall in the 1650 freestyle, the same place he took at this event last season.

Moving onto the boards, the women competed in the 1-meter dive. It was Pfaff who soared to the consolation final, finishing second with a score of 283.70 after a prelim score of 266.95.

After a slight break the Wildcats rallied for the first relay of the championship. The men’s 200 medley relay brought tons of energy, placing fourth with a time of 1:21.80 and giving them a new program record title. Three of the relay team members raced in their first ever SEC Championship, swimming impressive splits – Lysander Osman (20.21), Adomas Gatulis (23.12), Javier Lopez-Guillen (20.31), and Falemana Tuufui (18.16).

Day three of the championship starts with prelims for 100 backstroke, 200 butterfly, and 100 breaststroke at 9:30 a.m. ET, followed by men’s 3-meter diving prelims at noon, with B-Finals directly after. All sessions can be live streamed on SECN+, and results can be found on MeetMobile.

Tomorrow’s Events: