Silver Lining: Four Cats Earn Second Place in 800 Free-R

GREENSBORO, N.C. –  The University of Kentucky women’s swimming and diving team made its presence known on the first night at the 2021 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina, earning a silver finish in the only event of the night.
 
Exactly one month after winning the 800 freestyle relay at the 2021 Southeastern Conference Championship, the same foursome finished in second place at the big dance on a time of 6:57.02. It marked the first event of the meet and the solo event on the opening night of meet, which will run Wednesday through Saturday.
 
Swimming the lead leg, Izzy Gati dropped two seconds off her personal record to touch the wall in 1:44.27. Riley Gaines came in clutch for the foursome, earning a time of 1:42.81 to help put the group in front of the fourth heat with the second-fastest split in the event. Sophie Sorenson checked in next in 1:44.97, while Kaitlynn Wheeler anchored in 1:44.97.
 
The meet will resume on Thursday with the 500 freestyle, 200 IM, 50 freestyle, 1-meter diving, 200 freestyle relay and the 400 medley relay. The preliminaries will begin at 10 a.m. ET and finals will begin at 6 p.m. ET.
 
ESPN3 will provide digital broadcast coverage for all sessions. A full schedule of the meet and direct links to watch the broadcast can be found here.
 
How It Works
In swimming and diving, the top eight from the preliminary round move on to the “A” final and the next eight move on to the “B” final. Those that finish 1st-8th and are touted as First Team All-America, while those that finish 9th-16th are named Honorable Mention All-America.
 
First Team All-America Count (4)
Izzy Gati, 800 free-r (2nd)
Riley Gaines, 800 free-r (2nd)
Sophie Sorenson, 800 free-r (2nd)
Kaitlynn Wheeler, 800 free-r (2nd)
 
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.