ATHENS, Ga. – The swimming and diving team had their best day of the SEC Championship yet on Friday, sending nine student-athletes to the evening finals session. The Wildcat women will head into the final day of competition in 11th place with 249 points and the men in 9th with 320.5.

Starting the day off was the women’s 200 fly race. Junior Maddy Hartley reached the B Final with a time of 1:57.42, a new personal best and B-Standard. The women then competed in the 100 back, where junior Grace Frericks qualified for C Final with a time of 53.02. Paige Taber also performed well, finishing just outside of the C Final cut with a B-Standard time. The women’s team ended prelims swimming the 100 back, where fifth-year Bridget Engel stood out. Qualifying for the B Final, she set a new personal best at 59.33. Junior Denise Phelan also qualified for the C Final with a time of 1:00.97.

On the men’s side junior Ryan Merani highlighted the day once again in the 200 fly, being the first swimmer of the week to qualify for an A Final. Merani swam an impressive program second-best time of 1:40.88. Sophomore Aaron Gasiewicz also cracked a top ten time, finishing in 1:44.18 for fifth all-time and earning a B-Standard. Senior Jackson Mussler notched a new personal best in the 200 fly as well, setting a new personal B-Standard time. In the 100 back, the sophomore Devin Naoroz swam a historic program-best time of 46.17 to win his heat, qualifying him for the B Final. In a different heat, freshman Szymon Mieczkowski swam the program’s seventh best time in history. To end the preliminary round, the men’s team swam the 100 breast. Junior John Broome picked up a personal best time, as did sophomore Ralf Roose who also notch the No. 4 top time for the Wildcats, just missing the C Final. Junior Adomas Gatulis closed things out for UK in convincing fashion, qualifying for the C Final.

On the boards, senior Abby Devereaux stood out for the Wildcats. She qualified for the Consolation B Final with a score of 251.50 ending in 11th place. In the final, she dove for a 222.95, ending in 7th place and gaining the Wildcats some points.

The swim finals brought intensity from the very start, with the 200 butterfly taking place first. Hartley competed in the C Final, swimming the sixth best time in program history at a 1:55.94. On the men’s side, Gasiewicz swam a 1:44.22 in the C Final and Merani beat his prelim time by .06 with a time of 1:40.82. With that time, Merani placed fifth best in the SEC in the 200 fly. The women’s 100 back C Final featured Frericks, who swam a 52.90 and achieved a fifth place finish in her race as well. Naoroz was also in the 100 back, finishing sixth with a time of 46.52. Phelan and Engel competed in the 100 breast, Phelan finishing in 1:00.93 the C Final and Engel in the B Final in 59.11, tying the program’s best and finishing in third place. The last individual event of the night for the Wildcats featured Gatulis finishing the 100 breast in 52.32, tying the record for the program’s best time.

To end the Friday night finals, the 400 medley relay was raced. UK was in the first heat, where they finished ninth overall. The team of Paige Taber, Engel, Hartley, and Frericks finished with a personal best time of 3:33.34. The men’s side won their heat and spotted a new program recorded time of 3:06.25 thanks to strong swimming by Naoroz, Gatulis, Merani, and Justin Peresse.

The last day of the championship starts with preliminary swimming of the 200 back, 100 free, and 200 breast at 9:30 a.m. ET, followed by men’s platform dive prelims at 11:30 a.m., with B-Finals at 1:40 p.m. The swimming finals will start with the 1650 free followed by the 200 back, 100 free, and 200 breast at 5 p.m. The 400 free relay will end the swimming portion before the last event of the 2025 SEC Championship, the men’s platform final. All sessions can be live streamed on SECN+, and live stats can be found here.

New NCAA B-Standard:

  • Maddy Hartley- 200 fly
  • Aaron Gasiewicz- 200 fly
  • Jackson Mussler- 200 fly
  • Paige Taber- 100 back
  • Denise Phelan- 100 breast
  • Ralf Roose- 100 breast

 

Tomorrow’s Events:

  • 200 Back
  • 100 Free
  • 200 Breast
  • 1650 Free
  • 400 Free Relay
  • Men’s Platform

 

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