RV/No. 10 Kentucky Swimming & Diving Rematches Tennessee on the Road
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – The University of Kentucky swimming and diving program will take the competition pool for the first time in the new year, as the men’s and women’s teams travel to Knoxville, Tennessee, for its final road test of the regular season. The No. 10 Kentucky women’s team will square off with No. 5 Tennessee on Thursday, January 14 at 3 p.m. ET, while the RV Kentucky men’s team will face No. 11 Tennessee on Friday, January 15 at 3 p.m. ET.
The dual meet, hosted inside the Jones Aquatic Center, will not be streamed, however fans are encouraged to follow live scoring online or on the Meet Mobile app.
Both the men’s and the women’s teams have already met once this season in late October, when the Kentucky women’s team upset Tennessee, the defending Southeastern Conference Champions, in a 152-148 final score. It marked the first time the ladies team defeated Tennessee in a dual meet since 1999, doing so in a competitive matchup that came down to the final race. The Kentucky men’s team opened its season against Tennessee, also in late October, falling to the border foe 194.5-105.5.
The women’s team is off to its best start in the Lars Jorgensen tenure, defeating each of its opponents to begin the unique season, including Alabama, Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Vanderbilt. Both the men’s and the women’s teams have just two more dual meets remaining on the schedule before it’s two-month long postseason stretch, which includes a three-week SEC Championship in February and a three-week NCAA Championship in March.
The final two dual meets of the season – Tennessee and Louisville – will pose no simple task for Kentucky, as both programs boast top times in the nation.
The No. 5 Tennessee women’s team hasn’t dropped a dual meet since Kentucky, earning wins over Alabama, Vanderbilt and Virginia. Meanwhile, the No. 11 Tennessee men own an unblemished record this season, earning triumphs over Alabama, Kentucky and Virginia.
In Kentucky’s last meet at then-No. 11 Alabama, Kyndal Knight was named the SEC Female Diver of the Week and Caitlin Brooks was named the SEC Female Swimmer of the Week, both for earning top times and scores in their respected events. Knight has had a dominating season on the boards, earning personal records in each of her events, while also going undefeated on the 1-meter springboard this season. Brooks has a pair of the nation’s top-10 times in the nation, ranking fourth in the 200 backstroke (1:51.55) and sixth in the 100 backstroke (51.56), both earned at the Mizzou Invite.
In fact, the women’s team has four different swimmers with a combined seven times ranked in the nation’s top-10 this season – Riley Gaines, Beth McNeese, Sophie Sorenson and Brooks.
On the men’s side, transfer Adam Rosipal owns the 20th-best time in the nation in the 1,650 freestyle (15:10.38). It was earned at the Mizzou Invitational in November, and it became the seventh-best performance in the event program history.
Chase Lane and Danny Zhang have also largely contributed to the men’s team this season, going toe-to-toe in every discipline all season. Lane owns the team’s top score on the 1-meter springboard this season (352.88), which he just so happened to earn against Tennessee in late October. Zhang owns the team’s top score on the 3-meter springboard (427.28) and on platform (417.08), just one point more than Lane’s 416.10 on platform.
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.
