Miami Open and AT&T Winter Nationals on Tap for Wildcats

LEXINGTON, Ky. – Though the Kentucky swimming and diving team has taken a break as a unit until January, the divers are slated to compete this week at the Miami Open, while a small group of UK representatives will take on elite competition at the 2015 AT&T Winter Nationals.  

The Miami Open, hosted by Miami University, will run from Dec. 3-5 in Oxford, Ohio.  On Thursday, both the men and women will compete on the platform, beginning at 4 p.m. ET.  Friday’s competition will consist of the 3-meter dive for the women and the 1-meter dive for the men.  Prelims will be held at 2 p.m., followed by the finals at 7 p.m. Saturday will consist of the 1-meter dive for the women and the 3-meter dive for the men, with prelims once again starting at 2 p.m. The finals for Saturday will begin at 6 p.m.  The two finals sessions will be split into two groups, with an A final for the top eight qualifiers from prelims and a B final for the next eight out of the preliminary round.

The AT&T Winter Nationals will be held at Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way, Wash., and is the premier event for USA Swimming in the month of December. The meet will consist of three days of long course meters (LCM) action from Dec. 3-5.  Preliminary heats are slated to begin at 9 a.m. PT each day, with the finals dependent on the preliminary timelines, but scheduled for approximately 6 p.m. PT.   

Thursday, Dec. 3 will be the shortest of the three days, with the 400 free, 200 IM and 50 free.  Friday will start off with the 400 IM, followed by the 100 fly, 200 free, 100 breast and 100 back.  Saturday is scheduled to begin with the women’s 800 free, followed by the men’s 1500 free, the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breast and 200 fly. 

Current Wildcat George Greenhalgh will compete in the 100 and 200 breast.  Three recent graduates of the program are also slated to compete in Christina Bechtel, Abby Myers and Kristen Wilson.  Bechtel and Myers will both compete in the 100 and 200 fly, while Wilson will swim in the 100 and 200 free.

For the latest on the Kentucky swimming and diving program, follow @UKSwimDive on Twitter, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKSwimDive, and on the web at ukathletics.com.