Masterton Becomes a Two-Time NCAA All-American on 1-Meter Springboard
AUSTIN, Texas – Senior diver Seb Masterton shined for the University of Kentucky men’s swimming and diving team on Thursday, when he finished 12th overall on the 1-meter springboard in UK’s first competitive day of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Austin, Texas.
In the preliminary bout, Masterton finished 14th in the 45-person 1M field on 314.25 points to fill one of eight spots in the consolation final. His finals appearance made most impact, when he scored 335.35 points to finish 12th overall in the event and become a three-time NCAA All-American, two-time on the 1M springboard.
Masterton is the school-record holder in the event, recording 423.10 points two seasons ago at the Miami Diving Invite. Masterton, an England native, logged three 1M gold finishes in meets this season. He was the only UK male to qualify for the 2019 NCAA Championships in all three disciplines, and he will join freshman Danny Zhang on the 3-meter springboard on Friday.
In the swimming division, the UK men’s 200 freestyle relay finished in 17th place, just .03 shy of making the consolation final. Led by junior John Mitchell, then junior Peter Wetzlar, followed by senior David Dingess and anchored by junior Jason Head, the foursome recorded a time stamp of 1:17.91. Mitchell’s lead-off time of 19.53 marks his career best in the 50 freestyle, and it is ranked fifth in all-time program history.
Junior Glen Brown swam in the preliminary heat of the 200 IM on Thursday. Logging a 1:44.42, he finished 35th overall. Brown is the school-record holder in the 200 and 400 IM. His 200 IM lifetime best is 1:43.69, posted in early March at the Bulldog Invitational.
The national meet began on Wednesday with the 800 freestyle relay. UK did not have registered competitors in the event.
In the swimming and diving divisions, only the top 16 finishers from the preliminary round move on to the finals round and receive points – the top eight are in the final heat, while the following eight are in a consolation heat. In finals, the top eight finishers will earn a podium finish and are pegged as NCAA First-Team All-Americans. Finishers ranked nine through sixteen are considered NCAA Honorable Mention All-Americans. It applies to individual and relay events, while there are no preliminary rounds for the 1650 freestyle and the 800 freestyle relay.
Fans are encouraged to refer to the Meet Central page for the most up to date information on the 2019 Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships, including current heat sheets, schedule, live results, final results, broadcast information, and ticket and parking information.
ESPN will provide live linear coverage for finals events on ESPN3 Wednesday through Saturday. Preliminary swimming and diving events will be available to watch here.
For the latest on the Kentucky swimming and diving program, follow @UKSwimDive on Twitter and on Instagram, on Facebook and on the web at UKathletics.com.
