ATLANTA – The senior Levi Sandidge made a huge splash for the Wildcats at the 2026 NCAA Men’s Swimming & Diving Championship, swimming for third in the 1650 freestyle and notching a personal best, program best, and the fifth fastest time in event history on Wednesday evening. Two other distance Wildcats finish top 20 in the mile, and the 200 medley relay top eight to end day one in sixth place as a team.

Sandidge, a native of Texas, has absolutely dominated the Kentucky distance scene for the past four years. Now the record holder of the 1650 freestyle, Sandidge reached his highest  finish in the event at NCAA’s in his career, with third.

Not only that, but Sandidge swam the fifth fastest time in event history in a quick 14:22.26. Ahead of him rank Olympic gold medalist, world record holders, and more.

Two other Wildcats in the mile included junior Carson Hick and freshman Dziugas Miskinis. Hick, who placed fourth at the SEC Championship last month, swam 14:39.66 for third in the third heat and finished eighth overall to find himself on the podium. Miskinis just missed the point for Kentucky, finishing 19th in 14:50.60, but gaining great experience in his first year of collegiate swimming.

Then, it was the 200 medley relays (1:22.00) turn. The relay was led off by freshman Lysander Osman, who swam the 50 back in 20.30. Then it was sophomore Adomas Gatulis with the 23.23 50 breast split, followed by another sophomore in Javier Lopez Guillen with a 20.56 50 fly. Anchoring the relay was Falemana Tuufui, who swam an incredible 17.91 split. Tuufui swam the second fastest 50 free split of the race, just behind Olympian & NCAA gold medalist Josh Liendo of Florida.

It was an inspiring day for the blue and white on day one of NCAAs, with the Wildcats ending day one in sixth place with 49 points. There will be more swimming for the Wildcats tomorrow in Atlanta, with prelims starting at 10 a.m. and finals a bit later at 6 p.m. ET.

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