Own the Poole: Lauren Poole Earns Bronze Finish in 400 IM
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Lauren Poole, a sophomore, earned a bronze medal in the 400 IM and reset her own school record to be named an All-America First Team on Friday night at the 2021 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship. Meanwhile, the University of Kentucky women’s swimming and diving team collected seven All-America honors on night three of the meet, which runs Wednesday through Saturday.
Competing in the first big dance in her career, Poole proved the dance is not too big for her inexperience. Just one month after earning the Southeastern Conference title in the 400 IM at the 2021 SEC Women’s Swimming and Diving Championship on a school record time 4:03.90, Poole earned a bronze medal and All-America First Team on the national stage, resetting her school record in 4:02.73.
Her third-place finish is Kentucky’s highest individual finish – male or female, swimming or diving – since Asia Seidt became a bronze medalist in the 200 backstroke in 2018 and a silver medalist in the 200 backstroke in 2017.
Riley Gaines also earned her first individual All-America First Team selection on Friday night, doing so in the 200 freestyle. Gaines, too, won the conference crown in the event just one month ago. Tonight, the junior touched the wall in 1:44.67 to finish in seventh place overall. Kaitlynn Wheeler also competed in the 200 freestyle, earning 16th place and All-America Honorable Mention in 1:45.99.
Izzy Gati earned the top time in the 200 butterfly “B” heat to earn All-America Honorable Mention. The junior touched the wall in 51.81 to earth ninth place overall, the third-fastest time in her career.
Three Wildcats finished All-America Honorable Mention in the 400 IM, behind Poole’s bronze finish. Swimming in the last big dance in her career, Bailey Bonnett finished in 11th place in 4:06.41 for the third-fastest time in her career. Gillian Davey finished in 13th place in 4:07.31, while Anna Havens Rice, one of two freshmen to make Kentucky’s NCAA team, finished in 16th place in 4:12.79.
The meet will resume on Saturday, the final day, with the 200 backstroke, 100 freestyle, 200 breaststroke, 200 butterfly, 1,650 freestyle, platform and the 400 freestyle 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.
All-America First Team Count (6)
Izzy Gati, 800 free-r (2nd)
Riley Gaines, 800 free-r (2nd)
Riley Gaines, 200 freestyle (7th)
Sophie Sorenson, 800 free-r (2nd)
Kaitlynn Wheeler, 800 free-r (2nd)
Lauren Poole, 400 IM (3rd)
All-America Honorable Mention Count (12)
Kyndal Knight, 1-meter (11th)
Lauren Poole, 200 IM (11th)
Sophie Sorenson, 200 IM (12th)
Caitlin Brooks, 400 med-r (10th)
Gillian Davey, 400 med-r (10th)
Gillian Davey, 400 IM (13th)
Izzy Gati, 400 med-r (10th)
Izzy Gati, 100 butterfly (9th)
Riley Gaines, 400 med-r (10th)
Bailey Bonnett, 400 IM (11th)
Anna Havens Rice, 400 IM (16th)
Kaitlynn Wheeler, 200 freestyle (16th)
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.
