Kentucky Leads Women's Swimming After Day Three

Through 14 events, Kentucky is in the lead at the 2021 SEC Women's Swimming Championship at Georgia's Gabrielsen Natatorium.

Kentucky owns a team score of 744, followed by Florida in second place with 720 points. Georgia is in third place with 658 points. The team scores include results from all three women's diving events, which took place this week at the Mizzou Aquatics Center.

Kentucky started off the night going 1-2 in the 400 IM, with Lauren Poole touching the wall first at 4:03.90 and Gillen Davey coming in at 4:05.96. Poole is the first Wildcat to win this event at the SEC Championships. Alexis Yager of Tennessee finished third with a time of 4:07.75.

Rhyan White of Alabama won the 100 fly with a time of 50.94, the first member of the Crimson Tide program to claim the event title since 1995. Taylor Pike of Texas A&M placed second with a time of 51.71, and Izzy Gati of Kentucky took third with a time of 51.74.

Riley Gaines of Kentucky became the third Wildcat in program history to win the 200 free, recording an NCAA A-cut time of 1:42.70. Courtney Harnish of Georgia took second place with a time of 1:43.58, and Chloe Stepanek of Texas A&M claimed third place with a time of 1:43.58.

Zoie Hartman defended her title in the 100 breaststroke by posting an NCAA A-cut time of 57.40. Mona McSharry of Tennessee also posted an NCAA A-cut time of 57.82 to take second place. Diana Petkova of Alabama finished third with a time of 59.16.

White also defended her title in the 100 back, posting an NCAA A-cut time of 50.36 to win her second individual title of the night. Sarah Thompson of Missouri came in second with a time of 51.27, followed by Caitlin Brooks of Kentucky with a time of 51.63.

In the final event of the night, Georgia won the 400 medley relay for the first time since 2004 as Gabi Fa'Amausili, Hartman, Harnish and Maxine Parker posted a combined time of 3:29.41. The quartet of Kaitlin Harty, McSharry, Trude Rothrock and Tjasa Pintar of Tennessee finished second (3:30.18), while Brooks, Bailey Bonnett, Gati and Gaines of Kentucky placed third (3:30.44).

The 2021 SEC Women's Swimming Championship will conclude on Saturday, February 20. The prelims for the 200 back, 100 free, 200 breaststroke and the 200 fly are slated to begin at 10 a.m. ET, followed by heats for the 1650 free. The finals of the 1650 free, 200 back, 100 free, 200 breaststroke, 200 fly and the 400 free relay will start at 6 p.m. ET. Both sessions can be viewed on SEC Network+.