LEXINGTON, Ky.? Former Kentucky swimmer Nikia Deveaux, representing her native Bahamas, claimed 17th place in the preliminaries of the 50-freestyle at the Pan American Games being held in the Parque Aquatico in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on Monday.

Deveaux registered a time of 27.15 achieving the first-alternate status for the finals of the event slated for Tuesday night. Canada?s Elizabeth Collins tapped in first overall in the prelims with a time of 26.77 to earn the top seed. Deveaux touched sixth in her heat of eight swimmers, and after three heats of qualified athletes earned the alternate placement.

Fellow Bahamian and rising sophomore Elvis Burrows will take to the water on Friday in the men?s 50-freestyle heat.

Wildcats earn Olympic Time Trial cuts

Sixteen team members of the UK men?s and women?s squads participated in a national time qualifying event held in Auburn this past weekend. Four team members: seniors Heather Bradford, Jenny Bradford and Will Vietti and junior Warren Grobbelaar attained Olympic Time Trials cuts to highlight the many success stories for the Blue and White.

Heather Bradford placed fourth overall in the A-final of the 100-meter long course butterfly with a time of 1:00.53, nearly three seconds under the time trial cut. Bradford?s impressive swim claims a personal best time in the event. The Groveport, Ohio, native has arguably enjoyed the best season of her swimming career, after earning her first ever All-America individual honor when she claimed seventh in the 100-yard fly at the NCAA Championships in March.

Jenny Bradford, a two-time All-American in the 50-yard freestyle, captured an Olympic time trial cut in the 50-meter long course free with a fourth place finish in the A-final clocking in a time of 26.27. Bradford who is a main-stay in the sprint lineup for the Wildcats had already achieved her time trial cut and participated in the 2006 ConocoPhillips National Championships in July of 2006, placing 16th overall.

Warren Grobbelaar, a native of South Africa, earned a cut in the 100-meter long course fly with a time of 55.41. Grobbelaar bettered his preliminary time by more than two seconds, placing 17th overall competing in the C-Final. Grobbelaar took home gold in the 100-butterfly at the South African National Championships in April, swimming in a career best time of 54.1.

Will Vietti took third in the A-Final of the 100-meter long course breaststroke event in a time of 1:03.84 earning his time trials cut. Vietti who owns UK records in both breaststroke events, captured second at the SEC Championships in February in the 100-yard breast taking home his first career medal.

Twelve Wildcats Continue Summer Success

In the second tier of qualifying for national events, four swimmers achieved national time cuts while 14 junior national time cuts were broken.

Heather Bradford tacked on a junior national cut in her only other event. Bradford placed eighth overall in the A-Final of the 100-free in a time of 58.70, but swam a 57.96 prelim time.

Jenny Bradford claimed a national time cut in the 100-free with a time of 57.38, nearly missing the Olympic time trial cut which is 57.19. She placed fifth overall in the A-final of the event. Bradford also claimed a junior national time in the 100-fly with a time of 1:03.17, tapping in 16th overall in the B-final.

Junior Shane Eliason enjoyed an incredibly successful meet narrowly missing several Olympic time cuts while placing in the top-21 of five different events earning at least a junior national cut in each. Eliason placed third-overall in the A-Final of the 100-backstroke claiming a national cut with a time of 58.32. His preliminary time of 58.24 was the better of the two. He earned four junior national cuts taking 13th in the B-Final of the 50-free (24.11); 16th in the B-Final of the 200-back (2:10.79) and 21st in the C-Final of the 100-fly (56.98). Additionally, he placed 11th in the 100-free with a time of 52.48 in the preliminary heat. Eliason did not swim in the finals of the event.

Sophomore Kyle Greene earned two national junior cuts in his five events. He took seventh in the A-Final of the 200-free in a time of 1:55.64, but earned a time of 1:55.44 in the preliminary swim. Greene registered a 52.94 time in the 100-free when he placed 16th overall in the B-Final. Greene also placed 22nd overall in the C-Final of the 400-free, 24th in the C-Final of the 100-back and 30th in the D-Final of the 200-individual medley.

Grobbelaar added to his Olympic time cut, with a junior national cut in the 50-free. Grobbelaar placed eighth overall in the A-Final with a time of 23.95.

Sophomore Eric McGinnis competed in three events, earning a national time in the 50-free and a junior national time in the 100-free. The promising sprinter captured third in the A-Final of the 50-free with a time of 23.52, his national cut. He earned his junior national cut with a 14th place showing in the B-Final of the 100-free tapping in 52.93, while earning a time of 52.76 in the prelims.

Senior Lindsay Myhre tapped in 14th place in the B-Final of the 100-breast earning a junior national cut with a time of 1:14.24. Myhre added a 16th place finish in the B-Final of the 200-breast clocking in 2:45.91.

Junior Travis Muzzillo participated in the D-Final of the 100-fly and earned a junior national cut with a time of 58.00, he registered a 57.85 time in the prelims.

Senior sprinter Beth Parsons notched a junior national cut with a time of 26.90 placing 25th overall in the D-Final of the 50-free.

Sophomore Megan Pulskamp tapped in ninth in the B-Final of the 100-fly claiming a national cut time of 1:02.60. She also earned a junior national time in the 200-fly with a time of 2:19.21, placing 11th in the B-Final of the event.

Vietti added to his successful meet with a national time cut in the 200-breast while claiming a team-best second-place in the A-Final. Vietti clocked in a time of 2:21.62.

Juniors Haleigh Kerns and Kristina Sledge, senior Jill Southerlan and sophomores Dan Vallette and Sydney Witzky also participated in the weekend?s events. Kerns appeared in a team-high six events.

Relays Among the Top in the Country

The Wildcats had team members appear in four relays at the Auburn meet, all of which placed sixth or higher. On the women?s side, the 400-meter long course medley relay claimed fourth and featured the Bradfords, Myhre and Pulskamp and earned a national time cut. The 400-free relay placed sixth with Sledge, and the Bradfords among the team members. They too earned a national cut.

On the men?s side, the quartet of Grobbelaar, Greene, McGinnis and Eliason clocked in fourth in the 400-free relay earning a national time cut. The third place 400-medley relay featuring Eliason, Vietti, McGinnis and Greene earned a junior national cut.

Kentucky?s swimming and diving programs are coming off another year of success under the guidance of head coach Gary Conelly. The women?s squad placed a school-best 12th at the NCAA Championships, while the men return all but one team member to the 2007-08 squad.