After one of its most successful campaigns in program history last season, the Kentucky swimming and diving program will continue to face staunch competition in the upcoming year as fifth-year head coach Lars Jorgensen announced the 2017-18 schedule on Friday.
“We are excited about the upcoming season as we hope to continue to improve on the national level,” said Jorgensen. “The women are coming off a historic season and now we’ll have to see if we can take the next step by continuously competing with top-10 programs. Our men are coming off a great dual season with some great wins, but we need to get some more of our guys to NCAAs and for them to score.”
Competing in arguably the toughest swimming and diving conference in the country, UK will face off against a combined 11 men’s and women’s teams that placed within the top 25 at last year’s NCAA Championships throughout the dual season, including three individual national champions across four separate events.
“Our schedule is definitely tough and demanding but will set us up well to compete at the end of the season,” Jorgensen said. “We want to compete against some of the best teams in the nation every year. That’s what makes us better.”
Last season, the UK women had one of their best postseason performances in program history. The Wildcats tied their highest-ever finish at the Southeastern Conference Championships with a third-place showing with help from gold-medal performances from sophomore Geena Freriks in the 200-yard freestyle and freshman Asia Seidt in the 200 backstroke. Tack on a 14th-place finish at the NCAA Championships, where UK accumulated its highest point total in program history with 106 points, led by three First Team All-America performances from Seidt.
The Wildcats will once again kick off the season with their annual Blue-White Intrasquad on Friday, Sept. 29, before hosting back-to-back home duals to start the season. UK will first welcome in SEC foe Vanderbilt to Lancaster Aquatic Center for the women’s season-opener on Oct. 4. Both teams will face Eastern Michigan on Oct. 14.
Following its season-opening home stand, Kentucky will make its first road trip on Oct. 27 to Knoxville, Tennessee, to take on Tennessee and Indiana. All four opposing squads on the weekend finished inside the top 25 at the NCAA Championships last season, including a pair of top-10 finishes from the Hoosiers. The next weekend, the Wildcats will head to Carbondale, Illinois, for a quad meet with Southern Illinois, Northwestern and Missouri.
Kentucky will head to Columbus, Ohio, Nov. 17-19 for its annual mid-season taper with opponents still to be determined.
To cap off 2017, select individuals will compete at the USA Swimming Winter Nationals from Nov. 29-Dec. 2 in Columbus. The diving squad will also head to the Buckeye State for the Miami (OH) Diving Invitational from Nov. 30-Dec. 2.
The Wildcats will open the new year inside Lancaster Aquatic Center, hosting their only multi-team event of the season against Ohio State and Toledo in a two-day format, Jan. 5-6.
The annual Battle of the Bluegrass will take place in Louisville on Jan. 20 before returning home for Senior Day against Cincinnati Jan. 26.
Postseason competition kicks off at the SEC Championships, hosted by Texas A&M Feb. 13-17. The NCAA Women’s Championships will be held March 14-17 in Columbus, while the men’s meet is the following weekend from March 21-24 in Minneapolis.
The full schedule for the 2017-18 season is detailed below.
Date
Opponent
Location
Time
FRIDAY, SEPT. 29
BLUE-WHITE INTRASQUAD
LANCASTER AQUATIC CENTER
3 P.M.
WEDNESDAY, OCT. 4
VANDERBILT*%
LANCASTER AQUATIC CENTER
2 P.M.
SATURDAY, OCT. 14
EASTERN MICHIGAN
LANCASTER AQUATIC CENTER
1 P.M.
Friday, Oct. 27
Indiana/Tennessee*
Knoxville, Tenn.
TBA
Fri.-Sat., Nov. 3-4
Mizzou*/Northwestern/SIU
Carbondale, Ill.
TBA
Fri.-Sun., Nov. 17-19
Ohio State Invitational
Columbus, Ohio
All Day
Wed.-Sat., Nov. 29-Dec. 2
USA Swimming Winter Nationals
Columbus, Ohio
All Day
Thur.-Sat, Nov. 30-Dec. 2
Miami Diving Invitational
Miami, Ohio
All Day
FRI.-SAT., JAN. 5-6
OHIO STATE/TOLEDO
LANCASTER AQUATIC CENTER
5 P.M./ALL DAY
Saturday, Jan. 20
Louisville
Louisville, Ky.
1 p.m.
FRIDAY, JAN. 26
CINCINNATI#
LANCASTER AQUATIC CENTER
5 P.M.
Sat.-Sun., Feb. 10-11
Ohio State First Chance
Columbus, Ohio
All Day
Tues.-Sat., Feb. 13-17
SEC Championships
College Station, Texas
All Day
Saturday, Feb. 24
Last Chance Meet%
Columbus, Ohio
All Day
Saturday, March 3
Last Chance Meet^
Columbus, Ohio
All Day
Thurs.-Sat., March 8-10
NCAA Zone Diving Championships
Columbus, Ohio
All Day
Wed.-Sat., March 14-17
NCAA Championships%
Columbus, Ohio
All Day
Wed.-Sat., March 21-24
NCAA Championships^
Minneapolis, Minn.
All Day
HOME MEETS ARE IN BOLD CAPS
* Southeastern Conference Meet
^ Men only competition
% Women only competition
# Senior Day
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 –
For more information contact:
Karlie Kinneer