Swimming & Diving
Gillian Davey - Swimming & Diving - University of Kentucky Athletics

GillianDavey

  • position Breaststroke/IM
  • class Sophomore
  • Hometown Urbandale, Iowa
  • Major Kinesiology
  • High school Waukee Senior High School

Top Times (SCY):
100 Breaststroke: 1:00.04 (2021 SEC Championships, 2/19/21)
200 Breaststroke: 2:05.59 (2021 SEC Championships, 2/20/20)
200 IM: 1:56.28 (2023 SEC Championships, 2/15/23)
400 IM: 4:05.28 (2022 SEC Championships, 2/17/22)

Top Times (LCM):
100 Breaststroke: 1:09.23 (2019 Ohio State Fall Invitational, 11/22/19)
200 Breaststroke: 2:25.07 (British World Championship Trials, 4/4/23)
200 IM: 2:14.23 (Greensboro Speedo Sectionals, 7/15/21)
400 IM: 4:44.83 (Greensboro Speedo Sectionals, 7/16/21)

Career Notes:

  • 2020, 2024 U.S. Olympic Trials qualifier
  • 2019-21 USA Swimming National Junior Team (not split between two years because of COVID-19 public health threat)
  • 2020*, 2021, 2022, 2023 NCAA qualifier
  • 2023 All-America Honorable Mention in 200 breast
  • 2022 All-America in 200 breast; All-America Honorable Mention in 400 IM
  • 2021 All-America Honorable Mention in 400 IM, 400 medley relay, 200 breast
  • ^2020 All-America in 200 breast, 400 IM
  • 2023 British Swimming Championship 200M breast Champion
  • 2022 U.S. Open Champion in 200M breast
  • 2022 SEC champion in 200 breast; bronze medalist in 400 IM
  • 2021 SEC silver medalist in 200 breast, 400 IM
  • 2022 All-SEC First Team
  • 2021 All-SEC Second Team
  • 2020 SEC All-Freshman Team
  • 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 CSCAA Scholar All-America First Team
  • 2021, 2022, 2023 SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll
  • 2020 SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll

In the Record Book:

  • No. 1 in 200 breast (2021), 200m breast (2023)
  • No. 3 in 400 IM (2022)
  • No. 6 in 100 breast (2021), 200 IM (2023)

2022-23 (Senior): Was 12th at the NCAA Championships in the 200 breast (2:07.26), 20th in the 400 IM (4:10.76) and 52nd in the 200 IM (1:58.90) … Made two “A-Finals” at the SEC Championships, placing 4th in the 200 breast (2:08.19) and 6th in the 400 IM (4:09.21) … Also placed ninth in the 200 IM, winning the “B-Final” with a personal best time of 1:56.28 … Had three dual meet wins in the 200 breast throughout the season … Won first in the 200M breast at the US Open Championships, qualifying for the 2024 Olympic Trials … Placed second in the 400 IM at the Ohio State Invitational (4:07.36), third in the 200 breast (2:09.12), sixth in the 200 IM (1:58.44) and 11th in the 100 breast (1:01.12) … Won first in the 200M breast at the British Word Championship Trials … Named SEC Swimmer of the Week of Dec. 6… Won Captain’s Award at Team Banquet.

2021-22 (Junior): Named to the All-SEC First Team … Was the 200 breast champion at the SEC Championships with a time of 2:06.21 … Also earned bronze in the 400 IM (4:05.28) and took fifth in the 200 IM (1:56.58) at SECs … Finished fifth in the 200 breast (2:06.03) at the NCAA Championships, also racing to 16th in the 400 IM (4:08.27) and 36th in the 200 IM (1:57.44) … Won the 400 IM (4:06.34) at the midseason Ohio State Invitational, also taking fourth in the 200 IM (1:57.31) and fifth in the 200 breast (2:09.51) … Had 14 top-5 finishes during the dual meet season, including sweeping the breaststroke events against Marshall … Won the 200 breast (2:12.36) in the season-opening tri-meet with Indiana and Indiana State … Took first in both the 200 breast (2:13.68) and 400 IM (4:19.58) against Auburn and NC State … Was the runner-up in the 200 breast (2:12.59) against Tennessee … Also placed second in the 200 breast (2:08.60) at Louisville … Won an Elite Performance Award at the 2022 CATSPY Awards for winning the 200 breast at SECs.

2020-21 (Sophomore): Qualified for the U.S. Olympic Trials, finishing 12th in the semifinals of the 200m breast (2:27.95) and placing 14th in the 400m IM (4:45.41) and 39th in the 100m breast (1:10.50) … Named to the All-SEC Second Team … Earned silver in both the 200 breast (2:05.59) and 400 IM (4:05.96) while placing 11th in the 100 breast (1:00.04) at the SEC Championships, helping UK clinch their first-ever conference title … Placed 12th in the 200 breast (2:07.38) and 13th in the 400 IM (4:07.31) at the NCAA Championships, also splitting 59.36 on the breaststroke leg of the 400 medley relay that took 10th … Picked up individual wins during the dual meet season against Louisville, Alabama, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt … Won the 400 IM and was the runner-up in both breaststroke events at the Missouri Invitational … Earned the Bob Bradley Scholarship Award at the program’s annual awards banquet … Named to SEC Winter Academic Honor Roll … Named to the CSCAA Scholar All-America First Team.

2019-20 (Freshman): Named to the SEC All-Freshman Team … Won first place in the 200 breaststroke (LCM) in 2:35.27 at the Ohio State Fall Invitational … Won first place in the 200 breaststroke (SCY) in 2:13.53 at the Ohio State Fall Invitational … Responsible for 53 individual points at the SEC Championships, including one “A” final appearance  … Finished 6th in the 200 breaststroke in 2:09.32 at the SEC Championships … Finished 10th in the 400 IM in 4:08.55, a career best, at the SEC Championships … Finished 15th in the 100 breaststroke in 1:00.65 at the SEC Championships … Qualified for the NCAA Championships in the 200 breaststroke and the 400 IM … Qualified for the 2020 U.S. Olympic Trials in the 100 and 200 breaststroke and the 200 and 400 IM … Named to the CSCAA Scholar All-America First Team … Named to the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll.

Prior to UK: Prior to UK: 100 breast bronze medalist at 2015 Iowa State Championships … Also competed for Central Iowa Aquatics along with UK teammate Emily Baeth … Placed fifth in the 200m breast at the 2019 U.S. Summer National Championships … 2018 Junior National runner-up in the 200 breast … Five-time Sectional finalist … USA Swimming Scholastic All-American.

*The NCAA Championships were canceled because of the COVID-19 public-health threat.
^The CSCAA board adjusted the All-America selection criteria to recognize a group of individuals who would have had the opportunity to compete for All-America status at the canceled 2020 NCAA Championships.

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