🏊‍♀️ Kansas Strong in First Day at Iowa State

AMES, Iowa – Friday marked the start of the Kansas Women’s Swimming and Diving team’s two-day dual meet against Iowa State, representing the first day of competition with a 102.5-62.5 lead over their conference foe inside of Beyer Pool.   

On the diving end of the pool, freshman sensation Shiyun Lai gave the Jayhawks its first of seven total wins on the night with a first-place victory in the one-meter diving event with a score of 316.58. In Kansas’ first team diving event of the season, the trio of Lai, Lize van Leeuwen and Gabriela San Juan Carmona trumped the Cyclones 324.15-281.63

Kansas would then keep their winning streak going as the relay team of Ryan Johnston, Lydia Lafferty, Lezli Sisung and Caroline Blake earned the top spot with a time of 1:44.10 in the 200-yard medley relay. Freshman Gracyn O’Mara then grabbed a second-place finish in the 1,000-yard freestyle with a time of 10:29.93. Eleni Kotzamanis finished second (1:53.89) and Claudia Dougan finished third (1:54.50) in the 200-yard freestyle.

"It was a good start to the meet. Getting off the bus after a few hours of travel and getting into competition mode is always challenging. The team rose to that challenge today, but we’re only halfway there. We’ll need to bring the energy tomorrow and finish strong."

Head Coach Clark Campbell

The Jayhawks kept their momentum going strong, as Sisung clinched a first-place finish of her own in the 100-yard backstroke (57.07), while Johnston secured a first-place finish in the 100-yard breaststroke (1:03.99). Molly Robinson and Aidan Howze followed closely behind Johnston, as Robinson placed second (1:05.94) and Howze grabbed the third-place spot (1:06.13).

Kansas would close out the first day of the Iowa State meet with a first-place victory from Amelia Lessing in the 200-yard butterfly (2:05.14) and a top podium spot for Blake in the 50-yard freestyle (23.66).

UP NEXT

Kansas will act on short rest and gear up for a 10 a.m. CT start time for the final day of competition against Iowa State at Beyer Pool. Fans can follow live scoring through Meet Mobile, as well as live updates from the official Kansas Women’s Swimming and Diving X account.