Kentucky swim and dive’s Carson Hick broke the school record for the men’s 1000-yard freestyle (free) amongst a men’s and women’s loss to the Auburn Tigers, where the men fell 179-121 and the women fell 161-139. 

Stands in the Lancaster Aquatic Center were filled with a sea of blue and orange for Kentucky swim and dive’s meet versus Auburn on Friday. The Tigers ranked No. 14 on the men’s side and No. 19 on the women’s side.

The Wildcats struggled to find success in the first two events of the meet, where the women and men both placed third in their respective 200-yard medley relay. 

Kentucky’s first success came from Hick in his record-breaking 1000-yard free with an impressive time of 8:46.08.

“[Feeling] pretty good,” Hick said. “I wouldn’t say I expected it, but I knew that I could do it, so it was good to just see that come to fruition.”

The record-breaking time also placed the sophomore fifth nationally on the season.

The 200-yard butterfly (fly) event for both men and women was one that provided the Wildcats much success, where Billie Sherratt took first with a new NCAA B-Cut of 1:58.03 and Ryan Merani took first with a time of 1:43.79.

Auburn’s Danny Schmidt took the early lead in the 200-yard fly, however Merani officially closed in on first during the final lap of the event to win it for Kentucky. 

Fifth-year senior Bridget Engel was one of the standout swimmers on the day, where she took first in the 100- and 200-yard breaststroke (breast), with times of 1:00.40 and 2:10.51 respectively. Engel’s time in the 200-yard breast led her to a new NCAA B-Standard time. 

This is the second meet in a row where Engel has taken first in both events, where she also saw success during the team’s tri-meet at the Morgan J. Burke Aquatic Center versus Purdue and Notre Dame. 

On the diving side, fifth-year senior Sam Duncan proved his significance to the team with his win in the 1-meter dive with a score of 358.95.

Duncan stands alongside Engel in taking the 1-meter during the tri-meet prior. 

“One meter has just become more and more consistent for me as I’ve gone on through my college career,” Duncan said. “I’m finding that even if I don’t practice here as much, I’m still confident in it.”

The Wildcats will hit the road and look to take their 15th consecutive sweep over the Cincinnati Bearcats on Saturday, Jan. 18.