UK Set for 2019 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships
AUSTIN, Texas – Nine University of Kentucky swimmers and two UK divers are set to compete in the 2019 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships March 20-23 at the Lee & Joe Jamail Texas Swimming Center on the University of Texas campus in Austin, Texas.
Nine UK swimmers were invited to compete in the NCAA Championships by meeting established time standards in events throughout the season. Those swimmers include freshmen Sophie Sorenson and Izzy Gati, sophomore Bailey Bonnett, juniors Madison Winstead, Ali Galyer and Asia Seidt, and seniors Haley McInerny, Paige Kelly and Geena Freriks.
Four UK swimmers earned bids in two or more events, making 15 total qualifying marks across the nine swimmers. Freriks and Seidt were each invited to compete in three individual events, the max amount permitted per swimmer.
Six of the nine Wildcats who qualified for the national meet this year were selected as competitors in the 2018 meet – Bonnett, Freriks, Galyer, Kelly, Seidt and Winstead. McInerny traveled as an alternate last year, while Gati and Sorenson are making their debuts as freshmen.
The UK divers competing in the NCAA Championships are freshman Kyndal Knight and senior Courtney Clark. The pair of Wildcats are coming off the Zone C Diving Championships hosted March 14-16. It was the lone opportunity for divers to qualify for the national meet. Knight punched tickets in all three disciplines – 1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard and platform – while Clark qualified on platform. Clark will be making her third NCAA Championships appearance, having qualified in 2016 and 2018.
In addition to the 11 Wildcats who met individual qualifying standards, UK is eligible to compete in four relay events – 400 freestyle relay, 800 freestyle relay, 200 medley relay and 400 medley relay.
Each day, preliminary events will begin at 10 a.m. and finals events will begin at 6 p.m (ET). Only the top 16 in each preliminary round will advance to the finals rounds. A full schedule can be found here.
Fans are encouraged to refer to the Meet Central page for the most up to date information, including a pysch sheet, the schedule, live results, final results, broadcast information, and ticket and parking information.
ESPN will provide live linear coverage for both Friday and Saturday finals on ESPNU, as well as digital coverage on ESPN3 for Wednesday and Thursday evening finals. Events not streamed by ESPN will be available to watch here.
This year will mark the UK women’s 15th straight appearance in the NCAA Championships. The program has finished in the team standings in five straight meets, each under sixth-year head coach Lars Jorgensen.
The UK women have placed 14th in the national meet the last two years. In 2017, Kentucky scored 106 points, making the most points scored in program history. The 14th-place finish was UK’s best in ten years. In 2018, the Wildcats scored 97 points.
Kentucky is in position to score in six of its 15 individual swimming events this year, according to the psych sheet. Notably, juniors Seidt and Galyer own the third- and fourth-best times in the 200 backstroke. Seidt, who is the three-time defending Southeastern Conference Champion in the 200 backstroke, won a silver medal in the event at the 2018 NCAA Championships for her school-record time of 1:49.24.
Kentucky’s NCAA qualifying times are as follows:
Bailey Bonnett
100 BR SCY 59.72
200 BR SCY 2:07.19
Courtney Clark
Platform
Geena Freriks
500 FR SCY 4:37.04
200 FR SCY 1:44.84
1650 FR SCY 16:05.96
Ali Galyer
200 FR SCY 1:44.88
200 BK SCY 1:50.39
Izzy Gati
200 FL SCY 1:55.35
Paige Kelly
1650 FR SCY 16:10.41
Kyndal Knight
1-meter springboard
3-meter springboard
Platform
Haley McInerny
200 FL SCY 1:56.04
Asia Seidt
200 IM SCY 1:54.37
100 BK SCY 51.16
200 BK SCY 1:49.31
Sophie Sorenson
200 BK SCY 1:52.92
Madison Winstead
200 BR SCY 2:08.56
For the latest on the Kentucky swimming and diving program, follow @UKSwimDive on Twitter and on Instagram, on Facebook and on the web at UKathletics.com.
