ATHENS, Ga. – The Kentucky Swimming and Diving program saw great individual performances on day three of the SEC Championship, marking the halfway point of competition this week. Nine swimmers marked new personal bests, four of them also achieving new NCAA B-standard cut times. The Wildcat women end the day in 11th place with 163 points and the men in 9th with 176.

Starting with prelims in the 500 free, freshman Sammie Hamilton stood out on the women’s side with a time of 4:44.88 as a qualifier for the C final. In the men’s 500 free, sophomore Carson Hick shattered the program record by nearly three seconds with a time of 4:11.85 and qualifying for the B Final. In the lane next to him, junior Levi Sandidge qualified for C Finals with the fourth best time in program history of 4:16.11. In the men’s 50 free, sophomore Justin Peresse notched a new personal best as well at 19.77.

In the 200 IM prelim, the Wildcats saw the most success individually. Paige Taber on the women’s side had a personal best and a new NCAA B-Standard time of 2:00.08. In the men’s 200 IM, four Kentucky individuals achieved new personal best times. Junior Ryan Merani swam the third fastest time in school history at 1:43.92, reaching the B Final. Sophomore Aaron Gasiewicz reached the C Final in a time of 1:44.91, which was number six all-time. Two other individuals also etched themselves into program history: Adomas Gatulis and Logan Ingerick. Gatulis, the freshman, recorded the eighth best time at 1:45.22 and the junior, Ingerick, ninth with 1:45.55.

On the diving side, the women competed in the 3-meter dive competition. Abby Devereaux, Avery Giese, and Kristy Pfaff all dove well, but it wasn’t enough to make the Consolation Final.

In the finals, two new team records emerged. In the 500 free Hick broke the top time for the second time of the day in the B Final with 4:10.89. Also in the B Final, Merani raced a program best 1:42.80 in the 200 IM. In the 500 free C Final, Sandidge raced another impressive top time, this time the third best at 4:15.39.

Day four of the championship starts with swimming 400 IM, 100 fly, and 200 free prelims at 9:30 a.m. ET, followed by men’s 1-meter prelims at noon, with B-Finals directly after. The swimming finals will start at 5:30 p.m. ET and end with diving the men’s 1-meter final. All sessions can be live streamed on SECN+, and live stats can be found here.

New NCAA B-Standard:

  • Paige Taber- 200 IM
  • Aaron Gasiewicz- 200 IM
  • Adomas Gatulis- 200 IM
  • Logan Ingerick- 200 IM

 

Tomorrow’s Events:

  • 400 IM
  • 100 Fly
  • 200 Free
  • Men’s 1-Meter Dive

 

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