Kentucky Swimming & Diving Begins New Year at Ohio State
COLUMBUS, OHIO – Breaking in the 2020 portion of a taxing schedule, the NR/No. 13 University of Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams will compete against No. 16/18 Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, Jan. 3-4.
“We are excited to get back in the pool after a few days off for winter break,” said head coach Lars Jorgensen. “Ohio State has a pair of really good teams, and they are well coached. It’ll be a challenge for us, but we look forward to competing against them and continuing our preparation to reach our goals in the postseason.”
The meet will feature a unique format, including a long-course meters exhibition Friday evening and a short-course yards competition Saturday morning. The meters exhibition is an opportunity for swimmers to earn 2020 U.S. Olympic Team trial cuts.
Scores from the short-course yards competition are the only scores that will be compared in the dual meet.
The schedule is as follows:
Friday, Jan. 4
3 p.m. – Diving
4 p.m. – *Swimming (LCM)
*Exhibition only
Saturday, Jan. 5 (SCY)
10 a.m. – Swimming (SCY) and diving
This is the ninth stop on Kentucky’s schedule, which features 11 dual meets and the toughest schedule in Jorgensen’s six seasons as head coach of the program. This season, the UK men will have faced a profound six teams who finished in the top 15 at the 2019 NCAA Championships, and the women will have faced eight teams who finished in the top 25 at last season’s national meet – four of them finished in the top 10.
Through more than the first half of the taxing schedule, the No. 13 women’s team has recorded a 5-3 record. The men’s team, which fell out of the TYR Top 25 for the first time this season in December, are 2-4.
Kentucky caught an early look at Ohio State during the Ohio State Fall Invite last November. On the women’s side, the Wildcats placed second (2,346.5 pts) close behind the Buckeyes (2,518.5 pts). The UK men (1,785.5 pts) were 651 points from reaching first-place Ohio State (2,436.5 pts).
Live scoring can be found on Meet Mobile.
The order of events is as follows:
Friday, Jan. 3 (LCM)
800 free
200 free
100 back
100 breast
200 fly
50 free
20 minute break
100 free
200 back
200 breast
400 free
100 fly
200 IM
Saturday, Jan. 4 (SCY)
200 medley relay
1000 free
200 free
100 back
100 breast
200 fly
50 free
Break
100 free
200 back
200 breast
500 free
100 fly
Break
200 IM
400 free relay
Next on the Schedule
The Kentucky swimming and diving program will travel to Louisville, Kentucky, to face top-ranked Louisville at the Ralph Wright Natatorium on Jan. 25 at 1 p.m. ET.
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.
