Galyer and Hamperian Rack Up All-America Distinction in 100 back and 3-meter
Friday Prelims Results Friday Finals Results
ATLANTA – Kentucky women’s swimming and diving added 10 more points to its NCAA Championships count with a pair of 12th-place finishes courtesy of Danielle Galyer in the 100 back and Rebecca Hamperian in the 3-meter dive. The Wildcats currently sit in 24th place with 20 points heading into the final day of competition.
Galyer was the lone swimmer to advance out of the morning’s prelims with a record-breaking performance in the 100 back. After swimming within .02 seconds of her own school standard of 51.76 seconds in three of her four previous swims at the Southeastern Conference Championships and NCAA Championships, the junior finally broke through the barrier and posted a 51.62 to earn the fourth seed in the B final. An hour after being awarded the Elite 90 distinction, Galyer broke her record once more with a 51.44 to place fourth in the consolation final. Bridgette Alexander also competed in the 100 back, finishing 26th after going just .06 off her personal record in 52.92 seconds.
Hamperian had her most consistent showing of the season on the 3-meter springboard throughout the prelims and finals, just missing out on a top-eight prelims score with 317.90 points to earn the third overall seed. Hamperian faltered slightly on her fourth dive of prelims, but stormed back into the top-16 with a 56.00 and 64.80 on her final two dives. She went on to finish fourth in the B final with 315.45 points.
Both Galyer and Hamperian picked up All-America honorable mention for their performances. It was Galyer’s second in the 100 back and sixth career All-America distinction, while Hamperian recorded her fourth All-America finish after making a final in the 3-meter dive for the first time in her career.
The Wildcats also saw swimmers compete in the prelims of the 400 IM, 200 free and 100 breast. Kathryn Painter had a top-30 finish in the 400 IM, swimming a 4:11.41 for 27th. The time is the third-fastest of the UK record holder’s career. Also posting a swim not far off her own record was Geena Freriks, who placed 26th in the 200 free in 1:45.86 for the second-fastest swim of her career and just the second ever swim under 1:46.00 by any Wildcat in program history. Kendal Casey also swam in the event, placing 57th in 1:48.42. Kendra Crew rounded out the group of competitors with the third-fastest swim of her career in the 100 breast, finishing 45th in 1:01.70.
The NCAA Championships will conclude tomorrow, with eight Wildcats competing. Galyer and Alexander will kick things off with the 200 back, followed by Freriks in the 100 free, Crew in the 200 breast, and both Casey and Painter in the 1650 free. Hamperian and Courtney Clark will then compete in the platform dive following the swimming prelims. The trials session is set to begin at 10 a.m. ET, with the finals starting at 6 p.m.
?ESPN3.com will live stream the finals sessions of the NCAA Championships on Friday and Saturday. Wednesday’s evening session, Thursday’s sessions, along with the morning sessions on Friday and Saturday, will be streamed live on NCAA.com. Additionally, ESPNU will air a two-hour broadcast via tape delay at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, March 29. Live results are available here. ?
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.
