The Kentucky Wildcats have finalized their schedule for the 2017-18 NCAA season.
The Wildcats will start off their season with their annual Blue-White Intrasquad, and then host Vanderbilt and Eastern Michigan at home on October 4th and 14th, respectively. They’ll travel to Knoxville Oct. 27 to take on tough opponents Indiana and Tennessee, their biggest meet before they take on mid-season invites. After the new year, UK will have a showdown with in-state rival Louisville to highlight their pre-SEC lineup, before prepping for the 2018 SEC Championships hosted by Texas A&M Feb. 13-17. The women will then head to Columbus for NCAAs in March, with the men competing one weekend later in Minneapolis.
“Our schedule is definitely tough and demanding but will set us up well to compete at the end of the season,” head coach Lars Jorgensen said. “We want to compete against some of the best teams in the nation every year. That’s what makes us better.”
The women hope to continue the significant momentum they have built over the past few seasons. They had two individual SEC champions last season, and they finished 3rd at those championships to tie their highest conference finish in history. The Wildcat women went on to put three A-finalists in the 200 back at NCAAs, including freshmen Asia Seidt and Ali Galyer and 2016 NCAA champion Danielle Galyer, and amassed 106 points to finish 14th at the meet. Their point total at NCAAs was a program best.
Seidt, A. Galyer, and 2017 SEC 200 free champion Geena Freriks, who all progressed significantly in the 2016-17 season, will lead the Wildcat women into the 2017-18 season. They were serious movers in 2017, going from 8th in the SEC in 2016 to 3rd, and also jumping way up from 22nd to 14th at NCAAs. Though they suffered some key graduation losses (like D. Galyer), the incoming freshman class includes two 1:00 breaststrokers in Bailey Bonnett and Jaclyn Hill along with 1:59/4:14 IM’er Lauren Edelman to help reload.
The men will look to continue to grow the program after taking down two relay program records and multiple individual team marks in 2017. Newcomers Nick Smith and Hank Siefert will add depth to their strong distance group led by Isaac Jones, while their strong sophomore class is looking to keep improvement steady in Lexington.
*Home meets are in bold and all caps
| Date | Opponent | Location | Time |
| FRIDAY, SEPT. 29 | BLUE-WHITE INTRASQUAD | LANCASTER AQUATIC CENTER | 3 P.M. |
| WEDNESDAY, OCT. 4 | VANDERBILT*% | LANCASTER AQUATIC CENTER | 2 P.M. |
| SATURDAY, OCT. 14 | EASTERN MICHIGAN | LANCASTER AQUATIC CENTER |
1 P.M. |
| Friday, Oct. 27 | Indiana/Tennessee* | Knoxville, Tenn. | TBA |
| Fri.-Sat., Nov. 3-4 | Mizzou*/Northwestern/SIU | Carbondale, Ill. | TBA |
| Fri.-Sun., Nov. 17-19 | Ohio State Invitational | Columbus, Ohio | All Day |
| Wed.-Sat., Nov. 29-Dec. 2 | USA Swimming Winter Nationals | Columbus, Ohio | All Day |
| Thur.-Sat., Nov. 30-Dec. 2 | Miami Diving Invitational | Miami, Ohio | All Day |
| FRI.-SAT., JAN. 5-6 | OHIO STATE/TOLEDO | LANCASTER AQUATIC CENTER | 5 P.M./ALL DAY |
| Saturday, Jan. 20 | Louisville | Louisville, Ky. | 1 p.m. |
| FRIDAY, JAN. 26 | CINCINNATI# | LANCASTER AQUATIC CENTER | 5 P.M. |
| Sat.-Sun., Feb. 10-11 | Ohio State First Chance | Columbus, Ohio | All Day |
| Tues.-Sat., Feb. 13-17 | SEC Championships | College Station, Texas | All Day |
| Saturday, Feb. 24 | Last Chance Meet% | Columbus, Ohio | All Day |
| Saturday, March 3 | Last Chance Meet ^ | Columbus, Ohio | All Day |
| Thurs.-Sat., March 8-10 | NCAA Zone Diving Championships | Columbus, Ohio | All Day |
| Wed.-Sat., March 14-17 | NCAA Championships% | Columbus, Ohio | All Day |
| Wed.-Sat., March 21-24 | NCAA Championships^ | Minneapolis, Minn. | All Day |
