No. 14 Kentucky Swimming and Diving Hosts Cincinnati for Senior Day
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The No. 14 University of Kentucky men’s and women’s swimming and diving team will compete at the Lancaster Aquatic Center for the final time this season, concluding dual meet action by hosting Cincinnati on Friday, Jan. 28 at 4 p.m. ET.
Prior to the start of the meet, the Wildcats will honor their 13 seniors in Kyle Barker, Daniel Blake, Riley Gaines, Izzy Gati, Parker Herren, Kyndal Knight, Kelly Rodriguez, Adam Rosipal, Sophie Sorenson, Caroline Szydlowski, Mason Wilby, and Danny Zhang as well as student manager Trent Lakes as part of the senior day ceremony.
The 14th-ranked Wildcat women are coming off back-to-back Southeastern Conference Female Swimmer of the Week honors for the first time since 2019. Sorenson picked up the first such honor of her career on Jan. 25 after winning both the 200 back and 200 IM and taking second in the 100 back at Louisville. Her time in the 200 back reset the UofL pool record and is the fastest time swum in a dual meet this season.
Gaines earned her second league weekly honor on Jan. 18 after winning the 50, 100, and 200 free in addition to anchoring the winning 200 medley relay in a 159-92 victory over Marshall in UK’s last home showing. Knight was tabbed the SEC Female Co-Diver of the Week on Oct. 19 for the fifth time in her career.
Kentucky had a number of standout performances despite falling to No. 9/11 Louisville in its latest appearance on Jan. 22. Two additional Wildcats joined Sorenson in breaking Ralph Wright Natatorium pool records: Caitlin Brooks (100 back, 52.18) and Gaines (200 free, 1:43.93). In total, the women’s team won six events versus their in-state foe.
On the men’s side, Wilby had a pair of impressive swims as UK fell to UofL. He won the 200 back in a lifetime best of 1:43.20 to move up to No. 2 all-time in school history, while his runner-up finish of 1:42.32 in the 200 fly was just shy of his program mark of 1:42.26 set at last year’s NCAA Championships.
Zhang claimed both boards against the Cardinals, besting the field by nearly 40 points to win the 1-meter with a final score of 363.38 and posting a score of 387.30 on the 3-meter. It marked his second sweep of the season as he also took the top spots versus Tennessee on Nov. 5.
Several Wildcats own times that rank in the top-20 in the NCAA so far this season. Gaines leads the way at fifth in the 200 free (1:43.81), 14th in the 200 fly (1:54.84), and 16th in the 100 free (48.43). Pacing the backstrokers is Sorenson who sits at No. 9 in the 200 back (1:52.11) while Brooks clocks in at 12th in the 200 back (1:53.07) and 18th in the 100 back (51.93).
Gillian Davey ranks seventh in the 400 IM (4:06.34) followed by Bailey Bonnett (10th, 4:06.96) and Lauren Poole (20th, 4:08.91). Wilby currently owns the 16th-fastest time in the 200 fly (1:42.32).
Cincinnati is fresh off a sweep of its crosstown rival Xavier on Jan. 21. Jessica Davis secured wins in the 50, 100, and 200 free for the Bearcat women while Sydney St. Rose-Finear and Katherine Connolly were both double-event winners. Michael Balcerak sprinted to first place in the two sprint freestyle events and Dominic Polling swept the breaststroke events for the men.
Kentucky and Cincinnati last competed against one another on Jan. 31, 2019, in Lexington where both the Wildcat men and women defeated the Bearcats to make it a clean sweep. UK earned a combined 24 first-place finishes out of the 32 events that were competed.
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.
