Kentucky men’s swimming and diving cruised past Notre Dame to boast an early win in the 2018-19 season, while the women’s squad rallied for a couple individual wins but it wasn’t enough to top Indiana and Notre Dame on Wednesday in Bloomington, Indiana.
Indiana played host to Kentucky, Missouri and Notre Dame in the quad meet that opened the 2018-19 season for all four programs. It functioned as three separate dual meets in one, which featured 32 events that each included two heats. Missouri and Kentucky did not compare scores, as the Tigers will host the Wildcats on Nov. 1-2.
The men crossed off an early win, advancing past Notre Dame 154-143.50. They were unsuccessful versus a top-Indiana program, falling to the Hoosiers 219-79. The stacked women’s roster rallied several winning performances, but concluded the season opener with two loses – Indiana (183-117) and Notre Dame (172.50-127.50).
“I thought the guys swam well today,” said head coach Lars Jorgensen. “I was really pleased with Peter (Wetzlar). He was fantastic today, he is really a talented athlete. Overall there are some really bright spots.
For the women, Riley Gaines, a freshman, swam really well. But, we still have some work to do. Really, our big meet in the fall is at Ohio State, so we’re doing all that we can to prepare for that. Overall, I was really pleased with the guys’ victory.”
Wetzlar, a junior from Zimbabwe, achieved success scoring high for the men’s squad. He put together two second-place finishes (50-yard freestyle – 20.24, 100-yard freestyle – 44.68), while also contributing in the 400-yard freestyle relay that earned the men another second-place showing.
Junior Asia Seidt created two winning performances for the women. The USA Swimming National Teamer was victorious in the 100-yard backstroke (54.23) and the 200-yard individual medley (2:00.51). While doing so, she carded the fourth- and fifth-best times in college swimming, respectively, for the 2018-19 season. The All-American also clinched a silver-worthy performance in the 100-yard butterfly (53.94).
Gaines made her collegiate debut earning high marks and flattering words from Jorgensen. The newcomer took fourth in the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 1:49.85. She followed that up in the 100-yard freestyle later in the day, carding another fourth-place finish (51.30).
The women’s diving team left little room for opponents to rank high, assembling notable scores that contributed to Kentucky’s success. A pair of Wildcats stole the No. 1 and No. 2 spots in the 3-meter category. Freshman Kyndal Knight recorded her first collegiate win scoring 154.05 on the board, while senior Courtney Clark followed behind with a 145.20 decision.
Senior Kailey Francetic grabbed silver on the 1-meter board (143.20), and junior Emma Dellmore swept bronze in the same category (136.65).
Kentucky’s next appearance will be Oct. 23, as the team prepares to host Southeastern Conference foe LSU in their first conference meet of the season.
For the latest on the Kentucky swimming and diving program, follow @UKSwimDive on Twitter, on Facebook at Facebook.com/UKSwimDive, and on the web at UKathletics.com.
– GO CATS –
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Cami Moore