Kentucky Men’s Swimming Set for 2021 SEC Championships
COLUMBIA, Mo. – The University of Kentucky men’s swimming lineup is set to compete at the 2021 Southeastern Conference Championships in Columbia, Missouri, Feb. 23-26. Unique to this season, the SEC Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships are split into three separate events:
- Men’s and Women’s Diving on February 17-20 at the Mizzou Aquatic Center in Columbia, Mo.
- Women’s Swimming on February 17-20 at Gabrielsen Natatorium in Athens, Ga.
- Men’s Swimming on February 23-26 at the Mizzou Aquatic Center in Columbia, Mo.
This is the first time in 35 years that the SEC Men’s and Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships are being held at separate venues. In 1986, the women’s swimming & diving championship was held in Knoxville, Tennessee, and the men’s championship in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
This week, the meet will start on Tuesday with the 200 medley relay and the 800 freestyle relay. Wednesday’s schedule includes the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle and 200 freestyle relay. On Thursday, events include the 400 IM, 100 butterfly, 200 freestyle, 100 breaststroke, 100 backstroke and 400 medley relay. Friday is the final day of the championship with the 1650 freestyle, 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly and 400 freestyle relay.
All sessions of the meet will be available to view live on SEC Network+.
The Kentucky men’s swimming and diving team has a lead heading into the swimming events this week after the men’s diving lineup scored 256 points on the boards in Columbia, Missouri, Feb. 20-23, producing a 65-point advantage over second place before the swimming events even begin.
The divers responsible for building that foundation are Danny Zhang, Chase Lane, Sam Duncan, Rodrigo Romero and Caiden Lake. All but one of those divers scored points on all three disciplines at the meet – 1-meter springboard, 3-meter springboard and platform. Zhang paced the group in scoring, earning a silver medal on platform with a score of 403.20 and a bronze medal on the 3-meter springboard with a score of 415.05.
The Wildcats head into the swimming events this week with 11 individual times ranked in the nation’s top 50. In addition, the men’s 800 freestyle relay time is the 14th-fastest time in the nation in 6:32.28, earned at the Mizzou Invitational in mid-November.
The list of swimmers with times in the nation’s top 50 ahead of the 2021 SEC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships are as follows:
- 20th Adam Rosipal (1,650 freestyle, 15:10.38)
- 23rd Jakob Clark (1,000 freestyle, 9:01.99)
- 36th Jakob Clark (1,650 freestyle, 15:21.29)
- 38th Mason Wilby (200 butterfly, 1:44.68)
- 40th Kyle Barker (200 IM, 1:46.36)
- 43rd Mason Wilby (200 IM, 1:46.57)
- 44th Adam Rosipal (1,000 freestyle, 9:09.21)
- 44th Zane Rosely (1,650 freestyle, 15:26.35)
- 47th Hank Siefert (500 freestyle, 4:21.48)
- 48th Mason Wilby (100 butterfly, 47.23)
- 49th Zane Rosely (400 IM, 3:50.88)
Four of those swimmers are returning scorers from the 2020 SEC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships, including Barker (26 points), Clark (22 points), Siefert (21 points) and Wilby (27 points). Daniel Orcutt, who has been out for most of the season, is the highest point returner from last year’s meet. He finished in 10th place in the 200 butterfly and 11th place in the 400 IM to collect 33 points for the team score.
At the 2020 SEC Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships, Kentucky collected 724 points for its best score in program history, to earn seventh place for the second straight season.
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.
