June 23, 2003

Kentucky swimmer Steven Manley rewrote the record books of his native Ireland when he broke three freestyle records in long course and short-course meets.

Earlier this month in Abbottstown, Dublin, Ireland, the sophomore to be broke an 11-year old Irish National Record when he swam the 400 meter short-course freestyle in a time of 3:53.08. The previous record was 3:53.89.

Then on June 20 and 21, the Dublin native set two more records, in the 200 and 400-meter long-course freestyle events. On Friday he swam the 200 in a time of 1:52.58 breaking the eight-year old record of 1:52.84 and on Saturday he swam the 400 in 4:01.88. The previous 400-meter record of 4:02.12 stood for 15 years.

Manley is currently training in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., where he is a camp counselor at the Hall of Fame Pool. As a freshman he competed in the Southeastern Conference 500-yard finals, finishing sixth with a time of 4:22.27. In qualifying he swam a personal best 4:21.01, shattering his previous personal mark of 4:26.

Manley also swims the 200-IM and anchors the 400-yard free relay team, which finished fourth in the SEC tournament.