UK’s swim team was back in action Friday and Saturday for the first time since November as the Cats faced off against the Toledo Rockets and Ohio State Buckeyes in a tri-meet at the Lancaster Aquatic Center in Lexington.

The men lost to the Buckeyes by a score of 178.5-210.5. On the other hand, the women defeated Toledo 321-61 while losing the the Buckeyes 185-204.

Both of Ohio State’s teams came to Lexington looking to avenge their loss to UK. The last time UK swam, UK topped Notre Dame, North Carolina State and Ohio State at the Ohio State Invitational. Toledo, meanwhile, came in at 3-3 in dual meets.

“A few more guys need to contribute and our depth needs to grow,” head coach Lars Jorgensen said. “Ohio State is a really tough team, and for us it is about getting better, which we did today. We are pleased with our culture and direction.”

As the meet began early on Friday, sophomore Glen Brown made a statement for the Cats by winning the 200m breaststroke with a time of 2:00.06. The following day, he followed up that performance with wins in the 200m and 400m IM.

“We went through some tough winter training, so I wasn’t nervous at all. I had great confidence coming into this meet,” Brown said. “Seeing how I did well while tired makes me feel good about the SEC championships.”

Senior Issac Jones also proved to be a valuable asset for UK. Jones won the 200m freestyle with a 1:38:09 time along with the 500m freestyle, going 4:22.96. Jones is ranked nationally in the 500m freestyle, with his 4:14.72 best time being No. 6 overall.

Jason Head won the 100m freestyle and Connor Blandford won the 200m backstroke, contributing wins for the Cats.

On the women’s side, former SEC freshman of the year Asia Seidt put on a show after winning the 100m freestyle Friday night with a 49.24, ranking as an NCAA ‘B’ cut. She won the 100m butterfly, 200m IM, and 100m backstroke Saturday with 53.14, 1:58.34, and 53.34 times, respectively.

Seidt is No. 5 in the nation in the 200 IM, 100 backstroke, and 200 backstroke. 

“It was fun for the team to compete against a team as good as Ohio State, and I was excited after the game to see where we stand leading up to the SEC and NCAA championships,” Seidt said.

Sophomore Ali Galyer won the 200 backstroke and was second in the 200 freestyle. The women’s ‘A’ relay, consisting of Galyer, Haley McInerny, Bailey Bonnett and Geena Freriks, won the 800m freestyle relay.

The top three winners in the 200m breaststroke were all Cats, with Bonnett in first. Freiks also won the 500m freestyle and 200m freestyle.

UK’s focus now shifts to the Battle of the Bluegrass as the team will hit the road for Louisville on Jan. 20 at 1 p.m.