Falemana Tuufui Breaks Own Kentucky Record in 50 Free In Tri Meet with Texas A&M, Vanderbilt

Texas A&M v. Kentucky v. Vanderbilt

• January 16, 2026
• Centennial Sportsplex, Nashville, TN
• SCY (25 yards)
• Results
• Final Scores:
  • Women
    • Texas A&M 202, Vanderbilt 54
    • Texas A&M 139, Kentucky 122
    • Kentucky 206, Vanderbilt 55
  • Men
    • Kentucky 184, Texas A&M 78

A trio of SEC opponents met in Nashville, with the Texas A&M women earning a pair of dual meet wins over Kentucky and Vanderbilt. The Kentucky men were led by freshman Falemana Tuufui, who notched another Kentucky program record in the 50 free to lead the Wildcat men over the Aggies in the most lopsided result in series history and Kentucky’s 3rd win in 9 all-time meetings.

Women’s Recap

Three Aggies claimed multiple event wins on the meet; leading the way was senior Kaitlyn Owens, whose first win of the meet came in the 100 backstroke, where she led the 1-2 finish for the Aggies, ahead of teammate Halina Panczyszyn (53.88), taking the win in 53.05. She later added the 50 free win in 22.91, touching in the only sub-23-second time of the meet.

Aggie junior Ava Whitaker swept the butterfly races, dominating the 200 fly by over three seconds, earning her first win in 1:56.05. In the 100 fly, Whitaker finished just under a second ahead of her teammate, Katie Walker (53.81), to complete the sweep in 52.83.

Sophomore Ella McQuinn added two more wins to the Aggies’ totals with a pair of freestyle wins. In the 200 free, McQuinn finished 1st in 1:46.72, ahead of four Wildcats who finished 2-5. Her second individual win came in the 100 free, surging to more than a second win in the 100 free, storming to the win in 49.01.

Texas A&M junior Hannah O’Leary took the 200 breaststroke win over a tightly contested top three; O’Leary touched first in 2:12.56, Kentucky’s Sarah Shaffer was 2nd in 2:12.68, and O’Leary’s teammate Lillie Sczech touched 3rd, less than four tenths behind O’Leary in 2:12.93.

The Aggies closed out the meet with a win in the 400 free relay, as the quartet of McQuinn (48.71), Kaitlyn Owens (48.81), Reagan Sherrard (51.42), and Eloise Williamson (50.36) put a pin on the double dual meet winning effort with a combined 3:19.30, more than two seconds faster than Kentucky in 3:21.42.

Kentucky sophomore Avery Giese continued her success in the diving events, winning both 1-meter (282.38) and platform (264.98) for the Wildcats.

Kentucky’s first individual win in the pool came by way of Paige Housman, who nabbed the 1000 free in 9:53.84, notching a new lifetime best in the event, topping her previous fastest time of 9:54.40 from December’s dual with Tennessee.

Wildcat freshman Sarah Shaffer took the narrow win in the 100 breast, opening her race in the 9th slowest split (30.00), but clocking the lone sub-32 2nd 50 (31.96, touching first in 1:01.96). The following eight finishers all touched within a second of Shaffer.

In the 200 back, Kentucky’s Ally Frame just out touched Pancsyszyn of Texas A&M (1:57.55) to win in 1:57.45.

Kentucky earned a 1-2 event finish in the 500 free, with Madilyn McGlothen and Housman finishing atop the final results. McGlothen was the only finisher under 4:51 in 4:47.18. Housman was 2nd in 4:51.44.

Vanderbilt’s Melissa Cowen earned the Commodores’ highest finish of the meet, touching runner-up in the 100 breast, just behind the winning Shaffer in 1:02.13.

Men’s Recap

Wildcat freshman Falemana Tuufui set his 2nd 50 free program record in the span of a week with a winning effort of 19.19, dropping .01 off his former record time of 19.20, set against Notre Dame the Friday before. That swim marks the 4th time that Tuufui has marked a new program record in the event this season.

In addition to his success in the 50 free, Tuufui also added a win in the 100 free, storming to a 42.86 winning effort over a pair of Aggies.

Carson Hick, a Wildcat junior, completed a distance free sweep, winning both the 500 free in 4:19.36 and the 1000 free in 8:49.51.

Sophomore Adomas Gatulis secured two more wins for Kentucky, claiming both the 100 and 200 breaststrokes. Gatulis comfortably won the 100 breast by over a second, touching in 52.35, ahead of his teammate Cayden Pitzer in 53.56. In the 200 breast, Gatulis later added the 200 breast, leading the race from start to finish, clocking 1:56.87.

Kentucky also swept the backstroke events. Lysander Osman touched first in the 100 back, just over a tenth ahead of his teammate Devin Naoroz in 46.16. Naroz later claimed an event win of his own with a 200 back victory in 1:43.17.

Kentucky’s 400 free relay of Tuufui (42.78), Osman (43.03), Justin Peresse (43.33), and AJ Terry (43.12) combined to close the meet on a high note for Kentucky in 2:52.26.

The Texas A&M success in the pool was highlighted by senior Munzy Kabbara winning the 200 IM in 1:46.12, finishing over a second quicker than Kentucky’s Ryan Merani in 1:47.22.

Texas A&M’s Nathan Stone helped lead the charge for the Aggies in the diving events, winning the 3-meter event in 362.25, just ahead of his teammate Emilio Trevino in 353.18. Trevino added a win on the platform, dominating the field in 394.43.