Swimming & Diving to Compete in SEC Championship
AUBURN, Ala.- Kentucky Swimming & Diving is set for the postseason as it travels to the James E. Martin Aquatic Center in Auburn, Alabama for the 2024 Southeastern Conference Championships, Feb. 19-24.
More information, including the schedule, live results, streaming, and spectator info can be found on the SEC Swimming and Diving meet central page here.
Last season, Kentucky earned six medals (one gold, two silver and three bronze), in addition to setting five school records, 78 personal bests and one NCAA “A-cut”. The UK women finished third with 946 points, while the men were eighth with a score of 514. The Cats also saw eight athletes land All-SEC teams, including one on the SEC First-Team and four on the All-Freshman team.
Kentucky boasts a myriad of swimmers ranked in the top-15 in the SEC in their respective events heading into this year’s championship.
On the women’s side, Senior Bridget Engel ranks ninth and 12th in the 100 and 200 breaststroke, respectively, while Torie Buerger is amongst the tops in the conference in the 100 back, ranking 13th. Junior Caroline Benda comes in at 13th in the 400 IM, and sophomore Grace Frericks ranks fifth in the 200 backstroke.
For the men, Ryan Merani, an SEC Swimmer of the Week earlier this season, ranks third in the 200 fly (1:42.50) and 13th in the 400 individual medley. Kentucky’s gold medal winner from the 2023 SEC Championship, Levi Sandidge, enters this year’s meet ranked second in the conference in the 1650 free with a time of 14:44.89.
On the diving side, senior captain Sam Duncan enters with the SEC’s eighth highest score this season in the men’s 1-meter, and 10th highest in the 3-meter springboard. Freshman Kristy Pfaff is seeded eighth in the women’s 3-meter, while Abby Devereaux is eight on platform.
The Kentucky Swimming and Diving women are 2-6 on the season in dual meets and posted a fifth-place finish in the ten-team Tennessee Invite. The men are 1-6 on the season, with their win coming in the final dual meet of the regular season against Cincinnati, and placed fourth at the Tennessee Invite. The Wildcats return all three of the school record breakers from the championship last year, including senior Max Berg.
For the latest on UK Swim & Dive, follow the Wildcats on X and Instagram at @UKSwimDive, and on Facebook at Kentucky Swimming and Diving.
