KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – It was a good end for the Wildcats to the 2026 SEC Swimming and Diving Championship on Saturday, with 10 finalists for the blue and white and a new program record in the 200 back by Devin Naoroz.
Naoroz’s races in the 200 backstroke was the highlight of the day for Kentucky. Starting with prelims, he swam a program best 1:40.57. Qualifying for the B-Finals with that time, he later reset the record by becoming the first Wildcat ever to break 1:40 in the 200 back. Being a huge vocal leader on the team, this race was a fitting end to the individual events for Kentucky this week as he embraced senior Ryan Merani with emotion following the new record.
Apart from Naoroz, the prelims featured a C-Final qualifying time for sophomore Alec Lampen (1:44.59) in the 200 back, along with Libby Grether (1:56.74) and Marie Belli (1:56.82) on the women’s side of the C-Final. Senior Fernanda De Goeij swam a 1:54.58 in prelims, sending her to the B-Final.
In the 200 IM prelims, Hayden Penny qualified for the B-Final with a 2:00.10. De Goeij (1:58.62) and Belli (1:59.17) had a huge day, also qualifying for the B-Final of the 200 IM along with their respective finals of the 200 back. A three-event individual scorer on the men’s side, Adomas Gatulis, made the C-Final with a time of 1:45.78.
The last set of prelims was the 100 freestyle, where the French freshman duo of Falemana Tuufui and Lysander Osman showed out once again. Swimming the programs second and third best times in history, Tuufui (42.24) and Osman (42.35) both qualified for the B-Final.
Onto finals Saturday evening, the 200 IM got the last session started. Penny swam a 1:59.59, taking second in the C-Final and bettering her time from earlier in the day. De Goeij swam a 2:03.15 in the B-Final, and Belli a 1:59.78 in the same race for fifth in that heat. Gatulis picked up a second place C-Final of his own, with the program’s eighth best time in 1:44.98.
The French duo competed next in the 100 free, finishing sixth and eighth in the B-Final. Tuufui finished with a 42.40 and Osman with a 43.41.
In the 200 back final, Grether bettered her prelim time in 1:56.10 for fourth in the C-Final and Belli swam a 1:57.33 in the same race. De Goeij battled for a 1:56.12 in the B-Final for the final individual race for the women. Naoroz rounded things out before relays with his 1:39.84 program record and second place B-Final finish in the 200 back.
The last event of the week was the men’s 400 freestyle relay, where the Wildcats set another program record in 2:49.68. The relay group, which is the same four that set the record on Friday night, was Falemana Tuufui, Lysander Osman, Justin Peresse, and AJ Terry.
The Wildcat men end the conference competition in eighth place with 582 and the women in twelfth with 284.5. The squad now looks towards its NCAA Championship and Zone qualifiers, with a few individuals’ hopes to compete on the nation’s largest stage with poise and strength.
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