UK Swim and Dive teams fall to Louisville on Senior Day
Sophomore Danielle Galyer participates in the backstroke section of the women’s 200 yard Medley Relay on Saturday, January 24, 2015 in Lexington, Ky. Photo by Hunter Mitchell
January 26, 2015
By Lamar Smith
A packed house turned out to celebrate Senior Day on Saturday in the Lancaster Aquatic Center as the UK swimming and diving team faced Louisville in what turned out to be losing effort for the Cats.
Despite winning nine individual events on the day, six for the women and three for the men, UK fell to the Cardinals 366-234.
“I thought the seniors were great and they’ve been great for us,” said UK head coach Lars Jorgensen. “I’m really pleased with their overall progress.”
However, it was two sophomores and a freshman that led the way for the UK men’s team that collectively lost to No. 10 Louisville 211-89
Sophomore Drew Aviotti took first place in the 1000-meter freestyle after being behind for most of the swim. He used a late surge to pull ahead and close out the swim with a season-best time of 9:12.33.
In addition, sophomore butterfly swimmer Kyle Higgins and freshman diver Levi Lindsey both won their events. Higgins won the 200m butterfly with a time of 1:47.92, while Lindsey notched a 349.58 in six attempts on the 3m diving board.
Lindsey also came in second place at the 1m diving board with a 295.05 score.
“Well, Levi is getting there. He’s still a really young freshman,” Jorgensen said. “But he’s really good and I think he has a really good chance of having an impact at the NCAA 2A meet this year.”
The UK women, on the other hand, took No. 13 Louisville down to the last event but failed to pull out a win as the Cardinals prevailed 155-145.
Senior Christina Bechtel, the 2014 Butterfly All-American and member of the 2014-15 USA Swimming National Team, finished in second place in the 200m butterfly with a time of 1:58.00. She added another second place finish in the 100m butterfly.
Senior Christa Cabot, sophomore Rebecca Hamperian and senior Lindsay Keahey took first, third, and fourth place, respectively, in the 3m diving board event.
“I thought our girl divers were really good today,” Jorgensen said. “Christa Cabot is a senior All-American and she was really good. Our divers helped us today.”
Jorgensen said the team needs that help as the season winds down.
“It’s all about the team and one person can surely help you. But one person doesn’t win the meet entirely,” Jorgensen said. “You need a lot of people. We’re still not deep enough. That’s kind of an area that we struggle with, but we’re getting there. It takes time to develop depth.”
