Kentucky Swimming Hosts Florida Tonight

Tina Bechtel 2014 Summer Nationals

Photo Courtesy: Griffin Scott

LEXINGTON, Kentucky, October 16. After a season-opening win for the UK women, the Kentucky swimming and diving team returns to action Thursday, Oct. 16 vs. perennial power Florida. Competition at the Lancaster Aquatics Center begins at 7 p.m. ET on the UK campus.

The meet between Southeastern Conference foes is the first annual Splash Blue Meet. In support of the on-campus organization DanceBlue, the team will raise awareness and money to benefit children with pediatric cancer who are treated at the Pediatric Oncology Hematology Clinic on the UK campus. To support DanceBlue, gold ribbons will be available for purchase and special warmup tops will be auctioned off on UKathletics.com.

“It’s going to be a really exciting meet,” UK head coach Lars Jorgensen said. “Florida is really good. They’re a great program, historically one of the great powerhouses in the country. It’s going to be a real tough matchup. Their men’s team is outstanding this year and the women have a couple of superstars too that will be hard to match up with. But we are going to go out and fight and I am excited about the home-crowd advantage.”

Fans unable to attend Thursday’s contest can follow along with live results on UKathletics.com. Additional updates and behind-the-scenes news and notes can be found on Twitter at @UKSwimDive.

Admission to all UK home meets is free to the public. Parking is available in Structure #7, located at 721 Sports Center Drive, at the corner of Sports Center Drive and Complex Drive. The parking structure is located just a short walk from the Lancaster Aquatics Center. More information about parking can be found at http://www.uky.edu/pts/.

LAST TIME OUT: UK OPENS SEASON WITH SPLIT VS. SOUTH CAROLINA

Kentucky opened the 2014-15 season with a 177-123 win for the women over South Carolina Friday, while the men fell 207.5-92.5.

Sophomore Danielle Galyer won four events, highlighted by a 1:58.45 in the 200 backstroke to give her an NCAA B qualifying time to begin the year. Galyer also claimed a victory in the 200 individual medley with a personal-best 2:04.03 and the 100 backstroke in 55.18. She also helped UK’s 200 medley relay, which included Kendra Crew, Abby Myers and Kristin Wilson to a win in 1:42.98.

Seniors Christina Bechtel and Abby Myers also notched wins in three events. Bechtel’s meet was highlighted by a 53.18 in the 100 butterfly, an NCAA B qualifying time. Myers won the 200 butterfly, while her time of 54.48 in the 100 butterfly, good for second place, was an NCAA B qualifying time. Bechtel claimed a victory in the 50 freestyle in 23.30 and the 200 freestyle in 1:49.53. Myers’ other two wins came as part of relay teams.

For the UK men, sophomore Brandon Flynn won the 1,000 freestyle with a personal-best time of 9:17.26. Junior Zachary Zandona won the 200 backstroke and touched the wall with a 1:50.63.

NATION’S FASTEST 100 BUTTERFLY

In Friday’s win vs. South Carolina, senior Christina Bechtel notched the NCAA’s fastest time in the 100 butterfly in Division I last week. The time of 53.18 is also an NCAA B qualifying time.

SCOUTING FLORIDA

Florida is coming off men’s and women’s wins over LSU last weekend. The men, the defending SEC champions, downed the Tigers 162.5-122.5 and the women notched a 166-134 victory.

Last season, the UF men placed third at the NCAA championships, while the Gator women were third at the SEC Championships and sixth nationally in 2014.

UP NEXT: AT TENNESSEE, VS INDIANA

Kentucky hits the road for the first time this season, Oct. 31 in Knoxville, Tenn. The Wildcats face SEC foe Tennessee and Indiana at 2 p.m. ET. UK returns home Nov. 7 and 8 for a quad meet featuring Missouri, Northwestern and Southern Illinois. Competition begins at 1 p.m. with the diving events, while swimming commences at 6 p.m. on Nov. 7 at the Lancaster Aquatics Center. Nov. 8’s schedule will be announced at a later date, tentatively set to begin at 9 or 11 a.m.

BECHTEL, GALYER EARN SPOT ON TEAM USA IN 2014-15

Senior Christina Bechtel was named to the 2014-15 USA Swimming National Team, while sophomore Danielle Galyer earned a spot on the 2014-15 Junior National Team. Bechtel and Galyer were named to Team USA after competing alongside 12 other UK swimmers at the USA Swimming National Championships, Aug. 6-10.

Bechtel was selected to Team USA as one of six swimmers in the 100 and 200 butterfly after a 59.05 in the 100 fly and a 2:09.67 in the 200 at the national championships. Galyer’s first competition with USA Swimming was at the 2014 Junior Pan Pacific Championships, August 27-30. One of 23 female competitors to represent the United State at the international event, Galyer notched a fourth-place finish, the highest of any U.S. athlete in the women’s 200 LC Meter Backstroke in 2:13.77.

NATIONAL ACADEMIC HONORS
Highlighted by earning the nation’s best grade-point average among Division I men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams, the 2013-14 season was capped by several national academic honors for the UK women’s swimming and diving team. The team earned a 3.728 GPA, best among all University of Kentucky teams and tops in the country, as recognized by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America.

The CSCAA also named seven UK swimmers and divers Scholar All-Americans. Christina Bechtel, Christa Cabot, Danielle Galyer and Abby Myers earned First Team Scholar All-America honors, while Kelly Berger, Kendal Casey and Kendra Crew each were named to the Honorable Mention team.

Additionally, Abby Myers was named to the 2014 Capital One Academic All-District At-Large team, one of 10 honorees on the Division I team in District 2 and one of six women’s swimmers from the Southeastern Conference.

LOOKING BACK AT 2013-14

In Lars Jorgensen’s first season as head coach in 2013-14, the Kentucky women placed 23rd at the NCAA Championships, their highest national finish since 2008. UK earned four All-America honors, with two top-eight finishes. The men finished 37th as five Wildcats earned Honorable Mention All-America honors. A combined nine All-Americans by both teams was the most for a UK team since 2010, while the eight Wildcats to earn the honor were the most since 2008.

Kentucky was one of eight SEC teams to place either a men’s or women’s team in the top 25 nationally.

The above article is a press release submitted to Swimming World. To reach our audience, contact us at newsmaster@swimmingworld.com.

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