Kentucky Women Primed for 2022 NCAA Swimming & Diving Championships
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Seeking to continue its successful postseason run, the No. 12 Kentucky women’s swimming and diving team is set to compete at the 2022 NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships from March 16-19 at the McAuley Aquatic Center in Atlanta, Georgia.
Prelims on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will begin at 10 a.m. ET while Wednesday serves as a timed finals session. All four finals sessions are slated to begin at 6 p.m. with ESPN3 providing digital broadcast coverage each evening.
More information, including the event schedule, live results and broadcast details, can be found on the meet central page here.
The Wildcats who earned a bid to the big dance include Bailey Bonnett, Caitlin Brooks, Gillian Davey, Megan Drumm, Riley Gaines, Izzy Gati, Parker Herren, Kyndal Knight, Lauren Poole, Anna Havens Rice, Sophie Sorenson and Morgan Southall.
The 12 invited women are the second-most to ever punch a ticket to compete at NCAAs in program history. Those Wildcats combined for 33 entries, also the second-highest entry total in school history. Nine of those student-athletes earned an invitation in three individual events, the maximum number a student-athlete can have.
In addition to the 10 swimmers and two divers that qualified for the national meet as individuals, Kentucky is also eligible to compete in the 200 medley relay, 400 medley relay and 800 free relay.
Three of the UK women’s swimmers invited to this year’s NCAA Championships own a seed time that ranks in the top eight in the nation, which would earn All-America First Team status. Those include Davey (6th, 200 breast), Gaines (2nd, 200 fly; 5th, 200 free) and Poole (6th, 400 IM), as well as the sixth-seeded 800 free relay.
Experience is certainly not lacking in this championship squad as 10 of the 12 student-athletes have competed on the national stage at least once before during their collegiate careers. UK is also one of 12 schools to have at least 10 women receive an invitation and has the third-highest number of qualified athletes among Southeastern Conference foes.
The women’s squad collected 152 points to finish 11th at NCAAs in 2021, setting program records for the highest team finish as well as the most points scored. Highlighted by silver in the 800 free relay and bronze in the 400 IM from Poole, Kentucky had eight All-America and 15 All-America Honorable Mention selections a season ago.
The Wildcats are coming off a successful SEC Championships in which they were the team runner-up with 1043 points, their second-highest finish and second-most point total ever. The women brought home 13 medals, including three gold from Gaines (200 free, 200 fly) and Davey (200 breast).
Additionally, Gaines broke the meet and SEC record in the 200 fly in a time of 1:51.51 moments after being named the league’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
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.
