The Kentucky swimming & diving team swept South Carolina Saturday at the Lancaster Aquatic Center. The women turned back the Gamecocks 130-109 while the men handled South Carolina 128-108.
The women (6-3, 4-2 SEC) received some outstanding efforts from both the swimmers and the divers. The swimmers were once again led by sophomores Jenny Bradford and Lindsay Myhre. Bradford, a native of Groveport, Ohio, captured the 50 freestyle for the fourth straight meet and finished first in the 100 freestyle. Myhre claimed victory in two events, the 100 breaststroke and 100 backstroke, marking the third time this year she has won at least two events in a meet.
The Kentucky lady divers once again showed their dominance in the three-meter event. Senior Jessica Thompson, reigning Southeastern Conference champion, scored a season-best 333.01 and junior Kari Retrum scored a career-best 312.98 to finish ahead of national champion Allison Brennan of South Carolina.
The 18th-ranked men (5-2, 3-2 SEC) once again got tremendous swims from senior leaders Daniel Farnham and Steven Manley. Farnham, a native of Mount Berry, Ga., captured both the 50 and 100 freestyle for the fifth meet this year. Manley who won seven events in three meets last week, took home a trio of freestyle events in the 200, 500 and 1000. The Dublin, Ireland, native swam a career-high 9:17.15 in the 1000 freestyle giving him the third-best score in school history.
The Cats male divers also performed extremely well qualifying for this year?s Zone Diving Championships to be held in Lexington this March. Both freshmen Dan Cuilla and Justin Smith set their career-bests in the one and three-meter diving events against the Gamecocks.
?We swam and dove really well today,? head coach Gary Conelly said. ?Our divers were outstanding. Our men qualified for zone diving and our women performed great diving against a national champion. Jessica (Thompson), Kari (Retrum) and Joey (Brown) had really good meets.?
?On the swimming side, we got some special swims from Steven Manley who won three freestyle events.?
The Cats will return to the pool on Friday against Indiana at 5 p.m. EST at the Lancaster Aquatic Center. The meet will feature the men only for the first time this year. Both the men and women will next be in action on Jan. 21, against Louisville.
