Dec. 16, 2013
USA AT&T WINTER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
When: Tuesday, Dec. 16 – Sunday, Dec. 22, 2013
Where: Lee and Joe Jamail Texas Swim Center, Austin, Texas
Live Results:
DiveMeets.com
Meet Info: USAdiving.org Event Homepage
Additional Info: Twitter | Facebook
LEXINGTON, Ky. – University of Kentucky divers Christa Cabot and John Fox will compete at the 2013 USA Diving Winter National Championships in Austin, Texas. The six-day event begins Tuesday, and 10 national titles will be awarded.
Cabot will compete in the 1-meter springboard competition, while Fox will compete in the 1- and 3-meter events. Former UK diver Corey Cowger is also scheduled to participate in the 3-meter springboard.
The men’s and women’s 1-meter semifinals and finals will be held on Dec. 17. The men’s 3-meter quarterfinals and semifinals will be on Dec. 18, while the finals will be held on Dec. 21. Cabot will join 37 other divers in the 1-meter event, while there are 30 entries in the men’s 1-meter. Fox and Cowger will compete against 34 other divers in the 3-meter.
A total of 10 national titles will be awarded at the Winter Nationals, with men’s and women’s champions in the 1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard, 10-meter platform, synchronized 3-meter and synchronized 10-meter. Additionally, the winter nationals will be used to select the divers who will represent the United States in both individual and synchronized diving events at 2014 FINA Grand Prix meets as well as the individual events for the 2014 FINA World Cup.
Live results from Austin, Texas, can be found at DiveMeets.com. Additional information is available on USAdiving.org.
LAST TIME OUT: AT OHIO STATE INVITATIONAL
UK competed at the Ohio State Invitational Nov. 22-24. The five-team field featured three squads ranked in the top 15 in both the men’s and women’s rankings. In the final team totals, the UK women registered 418 points over the three days, behind No. 3 Florida, No. 5 Virginia, No. 14 Ohio State and Purdue. The Wildcat men racked up 476 points and were defeated by No. 11 Ohio State, No. 1 Florida and No. 10 Virginia. The UF women had 1,099 points, while the OSU men accumulated 1,137.
UK junior Christina Bechtel set two school record times, with a 1:54.21 to win the 200 yard butterfly and a 51.36 for a second-place finish in the 100 yard butterfly. Bechtel also placed second in the 400 medley relay along with four more top-11 finishes.
Junior diver Christa Cabot won the platform event with a score of 283.50. She finished in the top five in both the 1- and 3-meter springboard events. Junior Abby Myers placed second in the 200 yard butterfly in 1:56.59, just behind Bechtel, while Eric Bruck recorded a third-place finish in the 50 yard freestyle with a time of 20.00.
UP NEXT: USA DIVING WINTER NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS
Select UK divers will compete at the Georgia Diving Invitational Jan. 3-5 in Athens, Ga.
The spring season officially resumes when UK travels to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to race SEC-foes Alabama and Arkansas on Jan. 11.
SEC HONORS BECHTEL, FERRUCCI AND FLYNN
The Wildcats have been honored with four Southeastern Conference Athlete of the Week honors this season. Freshman Brandon Flynn was named the Freshman of the Week on Oct. 29, while junior swimmer Christina Bechtel and senior diver Greg Ferrucci were honored with the season’s first Athlete the Week awards on Oct. 15. Bechtel was honored again on Nov. 27 with Swimmer of the Week accolades.
Bechtel broke two school records, set two meet records and recorded three NCAA ‘A’ or ‘B’ qualifying times in seven events Nov. 22-24 at the Ohio State Invitational to earn her second SEC honor. Competing against four teams, three of them ranked in the top 14 nationally, Bechtel posted career best times in all individual events.
Flynn was named the SEC’s Male Freshman Swimmer of the Week for the first time in his career after he won all four events he competed in against Missouri and Southern Illinois over two days. Flynn recorded his first collegiate win in the men’s 400 individual medley, and, eight events later, he returned to the water to win the men’s 500 freestyle. The next day, Flynn won the 1,000 yard freestyle in 9:21.94 before leading the way as the UK men finished one-two-three in the 500 yard freestyle.
Ferrucci, who has won all four diving events to open the year, was named the SEC’s Male Diver of the Week for the eighth time in his career. Ferrucci recorded wins in all four competitions to start the season. At Georgia on Sept. 25, he notched victories in the 1- and 3-meter dives, while the senior swept the diving events again at home against Ohio State on Oct. 11.
Bechtel earned her first career SEC Female Swimmer of the Week honor after a two-win performance Oct. 11 against Ohio State. On the strengths of two wins in the butterfly against Ohio State, Bechtel was ranked second nationally in the 100-yard butterfly after she finished first with a time of 54.34. Bechtel, an NCAA qualifier last year, also posted a win in the 200-yard butterfly against the Buckeyes.
THE JORGENSEN FILE
Lars Jorgensen is in his first season as head coach at Kentucky after serving as an associate head coach for the Wildcats last season. A 1988 Olympian and standout student-athlete at the University of Tennessee, Jorgensen served as interim head coach for his alma mater in 2011-12. He also spent time on the coaching staffs at Toledo and LSU.
As a student-athlete at UT, Jorgensen holds the school record in the 1,000 freestyle, set in 1992. He earned a silver medal at the 1993 SEC Championships in the 1,650 freestyle and helped the Volunteers to a third-place finish.
At the 1988 Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, Jorgensen placed ninth in the 1,500-meter freestyle. His brother Daniel also competed in 1988, making them the second pair of brothers to participate in an Olympics. Daniel returned to the Olympics in 1992 and won a bronze medal as part of the 800 freestyle team, while their father, Niels, was an Olympic wrestler for Denmark.
RETURNING STARPOWER
UK returns all four student-athletes that competed at the 2013 Men’s and Women’s NCAA Championships. Senior diver Greg Ferrucci is coming off fourth-place finishes in all three NCAA events and became the first diver to earn First-Team All-America honors in one season on the 1 meter, 3 meter and platform. Senior John Fox and juniors Christina Bechtel and Christa Cabot made their first NCAA appearance in 2013.
2013-14 CAPTAINS ANNOUNCED
Seniors John Fox and Maclin Simpson and junior Michael Christian were named captains of the UK men’s team, while juniors Christina Bechtel, Christa Cabot and Lindsay Hill were announced as captains of the women’s squad.
A LOOK AT THE 2013-14 SCHEDULE
The 2013-14 campaign features dual or tri meets with five SEC foes and two home competitions. In addition to Oct. 11’s home opener against Ohio State, the Wildcats welcome Cincinnati to Lexington on Feb. 1 at noon at the Lancaster Aquatics Center on the UK campus.
The 2014 SEC Championships will be held Feb. 18-22 in Athens, Ga. The NCAA Women’s Championship will be in Minneapolis, Minn., March 20-23, while the men’s national championship will be March 27-30 in Austin, Texas.
The complete 2013-14 schedule can be found here.
For complete news and updates on the Kentucky Swimming and Diving program, go to UKathletics.com/SwimmingDiving. Breaking news, behind-the-scenes updates, photos and more can be found on Twitter at @UKSwimDive and Facebook at Facebook.com/UKSwimDive.
