GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Kentucky men?s and women?s swim squads rewrote three school records and automatically qualified for NCAA competition in two events Thursday evening at the Southeastern Conference Swimming Championships in Florida?s O?Connell Center Natatorium.
UK senior Tim Patrick needed less than 20 seconds to rewrite the school-record book and earn an NCAA-qualifying mark in the 50 freestyle. Patrick, a St. Louis, Mo., native, took second in the event with a time of 19.68, finishing second to Auburn?s Fred Bousquet, a 2004 Olympian, by just over a tenth of a second. Patrick breaks Shaun Zitani?s school-record time of 19.75 set Feb. 17, 2000, exactly five years ago, at the 2000 SEC Championships. His record time eclipsed the NCAA automatic-qualifying time of 19.74, ensuring a spot in the event at the NCAA Championships next month at Minnesota. Junior Daniel Farnham took fifth in the event with a personal-best time of 19.80, while senior Clay Gasparovich placed 16th with a time of 20.54.
The UK men?s 400-medley relay team of sophomore Alejandro Bravo, freshman Kristian Outinen, senior Daniel Cruz and junior Daniel Farnham also set a new school mark and qualified for the NCAA championships. The quartet completed the relay in 3:12.22 for third place, obliterating the school-record mark of 3:16.91 set by Fernando Barros, Roger Watkins, Cruz and Farnham at the 2003 NCAA Championships. Kentucky trailed Georgia for third place midway through the relay, but Cruz chipped away at the lead in the butterfly, and Farnham finally pushed the Cats past the Dogs in the freestyle leg.
The UK women followed suit by scoring a new 400-medley relay record themselves. Senior Jessica Siegele, junior Laura Graham and freshmen Heather and Jenny Bradford completed the relay in 3:40.26 for fourth place, besting the previous school-record mark of 3:43.67 set by Jamie Reed, Stephanie Moll and former Olympians Rachel Komisarz and Annabel Kosten at the 1998 SEC Championships.
Junior Steven Manley added to the Kentucky tally with an eighth-place time of 4:27.22 in the 500 freestyle. Graham scored again for the Kentucky women by placing 15th in the 200-individual medley with a personal-best time of 2:02.89. Jenny Bradford added points to the Cats? tally with an 11th-place time of 23.02, a personal best, in the 50 freestyle.
The Kentucky men remain in fourth place with 204 points, while the UK women drop from first to fourth and also have 204 points. Day three?s events include the 400-individual medley, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and the 200 freestyle relay.
Men?s 500 Freestyle 8. Steven Manley ? 4:27.22 17. Jerram Chudleigh ? 4:28.37 22. Grant Nelson ? 4:31.80 31. Eric Weber ? 4:37.23 34. Dave Roberts ? 4:43.57 Women?s 500 Freestyle 21. Brennan Moore ? 4:59.29 28. Kelley Morrison ? 5:04.92 32. Caitlin Muldoon ? 5:07.73 Men?s 200 IM 22. Dane Redinger ? 1:53.73 23. Alejandro Bravo ? 1:53.84 24. Cameron Moore ? 1:54.84 25. Will Vietti ? 1:55.53 Women?s 200 IM 15. Laura Graham ? 2:02.89 29. Lindsay Myhre ? 2:09.60 32. Blair Barrett ? 2:11.76 37. Chelsea Bailey ? 2:14.86 Men?s 50 Freestyle 2. Tim Patrick ? 19.68* 5. Daniel Farnham ? 19.80 16. Clay Gasparovich ? 20.54 34. Mark Doyle ? 21.33 Women?s 50 Freestyle 11. Jenny Bradford ? 23.02 20. Heather Bradford ? 23.47 31. Nikia Deveaux ? 24.16 31. Joanna McLean ? 24.16 38. Sarah Kunz ? 24.48 41. Marci Vrooman ? 25.16 44. Jill Southerlan ? 25.29 Men?s 400 Medley Relay 3. Kentucky (Bravo, Outinen, Cruz, Farnham) ? 3:12.22* Women?s 400 Medley Relay 4. Kentucky (Siegele, Graham, H. Bradford, J. Bradford) ? 3:40.26* * - denotes new school record SEC Men?s Standings 1. Auburn ? 342 2. Florida ? 300 3. Georgia ? 231 4. Kentucky ? 204 5. Alabama ? 196.5 6. Tennessee ? 127 7. LSU ? 96.5 8. South Carolina ? 95 SEC Women?s Standings 1. Georgia ? 314 2. Florida ? 273 3. Auburn ? 256 4. Kentucky ? 204 5. South Carolina ? 155 6. Alabama ? 127 7. LSU ? 112 8. Arkansas ? 99 9. Tennessee - 76
