Three Kentucky Performances Garner All-America Distinction on Day Two of NCAA Championships

Results
(PDF) | Friday
Heat Sheet

INDIANAPOLIS – The Kentucky women’s swimming and diving team wrapped up the second day of competition at the 2017 NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships on Thursday, earning three evening swims including one championship final. Kentucky currently sits at 15th in the nation with 46 points, while the standings are led by Stanford.

“It was a great night,” said head coach Lars Jorgensen. “We broke some more school records and we moved up a lot from where we were seeded so I was really proud of that. Tomorrow is a big day. We’re not even halfway through the meet, so there are a lot of swims left for us. Every swim that we have, every dive that we have is really important. So overall it was a good day, and hopefully we’ll be better tomorrow.”

The evening was highlighted by freshman Asia Seidt who picked up first-team All-America honors with her eighth-place finish in the championship final of the 200-yard individual medley touching the wall in 1:55.19. The freshman was the only Wildcat to advance to a championship final on the day. The first-team distinction marks her second of the meet, as she was part of Kentucky’s record-breaking 800 freestyle relay that placed sixth on Wednesday evening.

“Going into it, I was so nervous being in the A final as a freshman” said Seidt after the race. “It doesn’t really happen often and so, I talked to Lars about how nervous I was and he just told me, ‘Don’t overthink it. Go in. You have your own lane and no one else is going to affect that, so just swim your race.’ It’s always good to get your first individual swim out of the way, just to know there’s a routine. So I know that preparing for my two next races will be a lot like tonight.”

After breaking her own school record in the morning session’s 500 free prelims, sophomore Geena Freriks kicked off Kentucky’s finals performances by again besting that record as she finished second in the consolation final to pick up All-America honorable mention honors. Freriks bettered her prelims time by almost a full second to finish with a time of 4:38.42. 

Although she did not make it to finals, freshman Ali Galyer also had a terrific swim in the 500 free prelims posting a personal-best time of 4:41.37. The mark improved upon her seed time by more than a full second and helped her to finish 24th overall.

Kentucky’s 400 medley relay earned All-America honorable mention as the foursome of Danielle Galyer, Madison Winstead, Seidt and Geena Freriks teamed up to finish eighth in the consolation final and 16th overall with a time of 3:31.75. The quartet bested the school standard they had set in the prelims this morning, which surpassed the record they had set at the Southeastern Conference Championships last month to finish fourth.

With 46 points at the end of day two, the Wildcats have
already surpassed their point total from last season’s NCAA Championships as
they finished the meet with 40 points overall last season to place 22nd.

Apart from the swimming performances, Danielle Galyer was named the recipient of the Elite 90 Award before the finals sessions started, recognizing her accomplishments both athletically and academically. The award is presented annually to one student-athlete from each of the NCAA’s 90 championship sports with the highest cumulative grade-point average participating at the finals site for each of the NCAA’s championships.

“It means a lot to me,” said Danielle. “Last year people would always ask me what was my favorite between winning a national championship and the Elite 90. I really like the Elite 90 because it’s really all encompassing. It’s what we work for each and every day in the classroom, in the pool, as a team.”

“I think it really says a lot about our team culture and how hard we work in and out of the pool rather than just how we performed in one race. It’s really exciting and I hope that I can leave a legacy for another member of the team to win it after me.”

For more information on Danielle Galyer winning the Elite 90 award, click here.

The 2017 NCAA Championships will resume tomorrow morning, following the same schedule of prelims at 10 a.m. ET and finals following at 6 p.m. Events will include the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 free, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke, 200 medley relay and the 3-meter springboard. The Wildcats have 11 entries on Friday overall.