The Kentucky Wildcats’ and the Louisville Cardinals’ swimming teams took to the pool Saturday afternoon. The UK women’s team swam its way to victory, scoring 175 points. The men’s team scored 157.5, also enough to take down the visitors. The Cats celebrated their seniors in a ceremony before the start of the meet.

In the women’s 200 medley, senior Kayla Churchman was able to create a lead during butterfly. Louisville slid forward to take the lead but UK’s Olivia Huffman was able to pull away by inches, earning a victory. She was disqualified, however.

In the Men’s 200 medley, Kentucky lagged inches behind but was able to create a lead in the fly. Eventually, Louisville took the victory late by .02 seconds.

In the 1000 women’s free, Senior Genna Freriks was able to take victory with a time of 9:54.41.

The Wildcats swept the top three in the men’s 200-meter freestyle. Jason Head took the overall victory with a time of 1:37.82. Behind Head was Hank Siefert (1:38.05) and Glen Brown (1:38.07).

UK star Asia Seidt had a consistent lead in the 100 women’s backstroke was able to take first place with a time of 53.09 seconds.

Kentucky’s Bailey Bonnett took the first place in the 100 women’s breaststroke with a time of 1:02.74 while her fellow teammate, Madison Winstead, took second, posting a 1:02.74.

In the men’s 200-meter fly backstroke, Kentucky’s Mason Wilbury and Louisville’s Zach Harding were neck and neck, but Wilbury was able to edge out the win with a time of 1:45.93.

In the 200 women’s breaststroke, Bonnett earned first place with a time of 2.12.78.

In the 500 women’s Freestyle, senior Freriks took victory with a time of 4:48.66.

The Wildcats’ Hank Siefert took first place in the 500 men’s Freestyle with a victory with a time of 4:27.59.

Kentucky’s Seidt earned first place with a victory in the women’s 100-meter butterfly with a time of 53.63 seconds.

In the women’s 200 IM, the Seidt took her third victory with a time of 1:59.55. Her teammate, Bonnett, earned second with a time of 2:03.01.   

Kentucky’s Glen Brown earned a victory for the men in the 200 IM with a time of 1:47.71 while Wilbury earned a time of 1:49.19 in second.

The Cats swept the 400-meter relays, as the women’s team finished in 3:20.01 and the men’s team finished in 2:56.27, both good for wins.

For the first time in eight seasons, the men’s swimming team prevailed over the Cardinals.

“We really showed up. We were definitely the underdogs. The boys definitely showed up. It was unbelievable to see,” men’s freestyle swimmer Peter Wetzler said.

The women’s team beat its rival both last year and this year.

“Today was absolutely incredible for the whole team around. The girls knew they definitely had a fight coming in and luckily the whole team was able to step up,” Seidt said.

The Kentucky Wildcats will face Cincinnati Bearcats in their next meet on Friday, Feb. 1, at 4pm.