No. 14 Kentucky Travels to No. 9/11 Louisville for In-State Showdown
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The NR/No. 14 University of Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving team is back in action on Saturday, Jan. 22 in Louisville to face the No. 9/11 Cardinals for the annual Battle of the Bluegrass.
Diving will begin at 12 p.m. ET inside the Ralph Wright Natatorium while the swimming portion of the meet will commence at 1 p.m. The meet will be streamed on ACC Network.
The 14th-ranked Wildcat women last competed on Jan. 12 against Marshall, posting a convincing 159-92 victory to open the new year. Kentucky swept a total of 10 events led by Riley Gaines with three individual wins and Gillian Davey with a pair of victories.
Following her impressive performance against the Herd, Gaines was named the Southeastern Conference Female Co-Swimmer of the Week on Jan. 18. The senior has won 12 individual events during the 2021-22 dual meet season and currently ranks fifth in the nation in the 200 free (1:43.81), 14th in the 200 fly (1:55.84), and 15th in the 100 free (48.43).
Several other Wildcats also own times that rank in the top-20 in the NCAA so far this season. Leading the backstrokers is Sophie Sorenson who sits at No. 9 in the 200 back (1:52.18) while Caitlin Brooks clocks in at 10th in the 200 back (1:53.07) and 17th in the 100 back (51.93). Davey ranks seventh in the 400 IM (4:06.34) followed by Bailey Bonnett (10th, 4:06.96) and Lauren Poole (20th, 4:08.91).
The Wildcat men last saw dual meet action on Nov. 5 against Tennessee where they dropped a 192-108 decision against their conference foe. Mason Wilby paced the team during that meet by winning the 200 fly and 200 IM while four other Wildcats registered runner-up finishes.
Both the men’s and women’s team last competed together at the Ohio State Invitational where they achieved a combined 50 NCAA B standards. Davey (400 IM), Gaines (200 free, 200 fly), Kyndal Knight (1-meter, platform), Brooks (100 back), and Sorenson (200 back) were all individual event winners in Columbus, as was the women’s 800 free relay with the fifth-fastest time in the country this season.
Kentucky’s diving contingent has been unstoppable this season. Knight, who was the SEC Female Co-Diver of the Week on Oct. 19, has four dual meet wins under her belt and was a finalist at USA Diving Winter Nationals. Both Knight and Danny Zhang swept the 1-meter and 3-meter against Tennessee back in the fall.
Louisville is fresh off a split with No. 5/10 Indiana on Jan. 14, as the No. 11 Cardinal women upset the Hoosiers while the men suffered a loss in Bloomington. Gabi Albiero was recently named the Atlantic Coast Conference Swimmer of the Week after leading UofL with two individual and two relay wins while Liberty Williams reset the school record in the 1000 free.
Guiding the Cardinal men has been Haridi Sameh and Daniel Sos who won the 50 free and 400 IM, respectively, against Indiana. In total, Louisville owns 12 times that rank in the NCAA’s top-20 thus far this year.
On the women’s side, Kentucky has bested Louisville in dominant fashion for the past four seasons. The Wildcats won 13 of 16 possible events for a 200.5-99.5 victory in 2021, the largest triumph in the Lars Jorgensen era.
The Cardinal men have topped the Wildcats for the past two seasons, as Louisville won 188-111 when the teams last faced each other in Lexington on Jan. 23, 2021. Kentucky’s last victory over its in-state rival was in 2019 with a close 157.5-142.5 decision.
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.
