Kentucky Swimming & Diving Defeats Ohio, South Carolina
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Claiming first place in 28 of 32 events, the RV/No. 19 University of Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams swept Ohio and South Carolina in their second meet of the season on Friday.
The No. 19 Kentucky women’s team defeated Ohio in a 251-49 decision and took down its first Southeastern Conference opponent of the season, South Carolina, on a 200-100 mark. The squad remains undefeated this season, claiming a perfect 4-0 record thus far.
The men’s team defeated South Carolina, 197.5-102.5, giving them a 2-1 record on the season.
“On the women’s side, I thought we competed well,” said UK head coach Lars Jorgensen. “Lauren Edelman’s 200-yard butterfly was probably the swim of the meet. I thought Ali Galyer was outstanding in the 200-yard backstroke and the 1,000-yard freestyle. I think we’re going to have to be a little bit better next week against a really good Texas team, but we look forward to going to Austin.”
“On the men’s side, Peter Wetzlar and Glen Brown led the way,” Jorgensen said. Peter is swimming great right now, and Glen continues to rise to the occasion. As for the divers, Chase Lane and Kyndal Knight won both springboards. They have been phenomenal through our first two meets of the season.”
Wetzlar helped lead the men to its second win of the season, finishing in first place in three of his four events in the tri-meet. For the second time this season, he topped the 50-yard freestyle field in 20.01, improving his season-opener time by a tenth of a second for the fifth-fastest time in the nation. He also took first place in the 100-yard freestyle in 44.26, the seventh-fastest time in the nation.
The senior from Zimbabwe also swam the fastest anchor leg in the 200-yard medley relay on a split 19.83 (1:28.91).
Reigning SEC Freshman of the Week Caitlin Brooks remained undefeated in the 100-yard backstroke, recording first place in 53.28. She shed over one full second off her season-opening time to record the fourth-best time in the nation on Friday.
Brooks wasn’t the only freshman standout for the women’s team. Freshman Gillian Davey collected her first individual win of her collegiate career, claiming gold in the 200-yard breaststroke in 2:14.72. Freshman Lauren Poole also recorded her first career first-place finish, touching the pad in 2:03.23 in the 200-yard individual medley.
Once again, Kentucky won each of its diving events. Knight remains undefeated on the springboards this season, claiming gold on the 1-meter springboard with a score of 309.20 and on the 3-meter springboard with a score of 334.20.
Lane took gold on both springboards, too. He recorded a 350.65 on the 1-meter board and 360.50 on the 3-meter board.
“I thought today was a good day for us,” said head diving coach Ted Hautau. “We’re still in a bit of a learning phase for us, but I thought for early season we did well. Kyndal came back after missing a dive on the 3-meter list but drilled the remainder of them to clutch out a win. I thought the girls on the 1-meter board were extremely consistent, and they were able to stay vertical. We weren’t quite as consistent on the 3-meter board.
“They’re getting a lot better, and the freshman still have to learn their air game. But they’re learning faster, and the upperclassmen are good at teaching them. Chase was awesome, and he and Kyndal added points that we needed to contribute to our team scores. Chase was excellent at this time in the season, and I’m really pleased with that. He showed a lot of poise and technique.”
Next on the Schedule
The Kentucky swimming and diving program will compete against No. 2/5 Texas on Friday, Oct. 25 in Austin, Texas.
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.
