UK Men’s Swimming & Diving Set for 2021 NCAA Championships
GREENSBORO, N.C. – One year after the 2020 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship was canceled just two weeks before its opening event, the University of Kentucky men’s swimming and diving team will at last compete on the national stage at the Greensboro Aquatic Center in Greensboro, North Carolina, March 24-27.
Five Wildcats were invited to compete at the 2021 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championship (two swimmers and three divers), combining for 10 individual entries (four swimming entries and six diving entries). The list is of invited swimmers and divers, and their entries, is as follows:
Mason Wilby
200 butterfly
200 freestyle
200 IM
Danny Zhang
1-meter springboard
3-meter springboard
Platform
Chase Lane
1-meter springboard
Platform
Sam Duncan
1-meter springboard
Zane Rosely
400 IM
All four swimming events are ranked in the nation’s top 30 ahead of the meet:
- Mason Wilby, No. 15 seed in the 200 butterfly in 1:42.28
- Mason Wilby, No. 22 seed in the 200 IM in 1:43.72
- Zane Rosely, No. 25 seed in the 400 IM in 3:44.84
- Mason WIlby, No. 28 seed in the 200 freestyle in 1:33.87
Both Lane and Zhang were likely to have competed in the big dance last season before both it and the 2020 NCAA Zone C Diving Championships were abruptly canceled because of the COVID-19 public-health threat. Of the men invited this season, just Lane and Zhang have ever competed at the national championship, as Lane did so as a freshman in 2018 and Zhang did so as a freshman in 2019.
ESPN3 will provide digital broadcast coverage for preliminary and finals sessions Wednesday through Saturday. Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour show at 7 p.m. ET, Tuesday, April 13.
The meet schedule is as follows:
| Wednesday, March 24 | ||
| 6 p.m. ET | Swimming Finals | 800 free-r* |
| Thursday, March 25 | ||
| 10 a.m. ET | Prelims (swimming) | 500 free 200 IM 50 free 1m diving 200 free-r* 400 med-r* |
| 12:15 p.m. ET | Prelims (diving) | |
| 6 p.m. ET | Finals (swimming, diving) | |
| Friday, March 26 | ||
| 10 a.m. ET | Prelims (swimming) | 400 IM 100 fly 200 free 100 breast 100 back 3m diving 200 med-r* |
| 12:15 p.m. ET | Prelims (diving) | |
| 6 p.m. ET | Finals (swimming, diving) | |
| Saturday, March 27 | ||
| 10 a.m. ET | Prelims (swimming) | 1,650 free 200 back 100 free 200 breast 200 fly Platform 400 free-r* |
| Noon p.m. ET | Prelims (diving) | |
| 3:45 p.m. ET | Prelims (1,6500 free) | |
| 6 p.m. ET | Finals (swimming, diving) | |
* Denotes relay events do not compete in prelims.
Fans are encouraged to refer to the meet central page for the most up to date information, including heat sheets, the schedule, live results, final results and broadcast updates.
The UK men’s swimming and diving team earned 25th place on 26 points in 2019 with just two swimmers and two divers, its best finish since earning 22nd place on 45 points in 2013. Last season, the Cats had an impressive five male swimmers invited to the meet and were likely to have two more divers invited before it was canceled, however all five male swimmers were graduating seniors.
Kentucky’s best-ever finish at the meet was 12th place on 116 points in 2005.
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.
