Wilby Named All-America on Final Night of NCAA Championships
ATLANTA, Ga. – Mason Wilby etched his name into Kentucky history yet again, placing eighth in the 200 fly on the final day of the 2022 NCAA Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships in Atlanta, Georgia. His performance marked the first time a Wildcat male swimmer has advanced to the championship final at the national meet since 2012 and is the third highest finish all-time in men’s program history.
Wilby, the school record holder in this event, finished with a time of 1:41.72, slightly off the 1:40.45 he posted during prelims. The senior also raced the 200 IM this past week at the McAuley Aquatic Center, finishing 47th with a time of 1:45.28.
Qualifying for the NCAA Championships in the maximum number of events an athlete can have was Kyle Barker, who competed in the big dance for the first time in his career. The senior finished 35th in the 400 IM (3:50.72), 47th in the 200 breast (1:57.11) and 48th in the 200 IM (1:45.34).
Barker concluded his four years in the blue and white as the school record holder in both the 200 breast and 400 IM, both of which were set last month at the Southeastern Conference Championships and Last Chance Meet, respectively.
On the boards, Rodrigo Romero dove to 32nd on the platform with a final tally of 289.40 in his NCAA debut. Sam Duncan, who competed at NCAAs for the second year in a row, finished 41st on the 1-meter with a score of 266.05.
Max Berg (1:33.86), Wilby (1:33.61), Victor Martin Roig (1:34.68) and Jakob Clark (1:34.11) placed 17th in the 800 free relay in a combined time of 6:16.26 on the opening night of competition. It was the first time since 2010 the Wildcat men have qualified to race that particular relay at the national meet.
The Wildcats finished with 11 points thanks to Wilby’s eighth-place finish, putting them at 31st overall in the team standings.
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