Back in the pool for its final home meet of the season — but also its first competition against another school during the spring semester — the Kansas swimming and diving took on Arkansas Friday afternoon at Robinson Natatorium.
The familiar foes squared off for the 37th time, and their matchup finished with an increasingly familiar result, as the Razorbacks claimed their 14th victory in 15 tries against the Jayhawks, 178-128, to take a 20-17 lead in the all-time series.
KU fell to 5-3 overall on the season, sustaining its first defeat in Lawrence of the year, while Arkansas improved to 7-2.
After the Razorbacks had claimed victory in the first five events of the afternoon, super-senior Amélie Lessing got KU in the win column for the first time when she claimed first place in the 200 fly with a time of 2:03.75. That followed her victory in the 50 free last time out against Rockhurst in early December.
The Jayhawks had some of their greatest success on the diving board, with a quartet of competitors taking the top four spots in the 3-meter diving event. The Mexico City native Gabriela San Juan Carmona, a sophomore, took the top spot with a score of 346.35. She was immediately followed by teammates Shiyun Lai, Lize van Leeuwen and Lauren Gryboski. Lai also won the 1-meter dive with a score of 319.20.
“It was good swimming Arkansas today because they are such a good team in probably the best swimming conference in the country,” head coach Clark Campbell said in a press release. “We got to see high level competition and we performed well.”
In total, KU posted nine second-place finishes and six-third place finishes, according to the release. Sophomore Caroline Blake, for example, finished second in both the 50 free (23.50) and 100 free (51.84) as one of the top remaining performers on the day.
Next up for the Jayhawks is a two-day battle with Iowa State in Ames on Feb. 9-10, with the Big 12 Conference championship just a few weeks later.
“We still have a few weeks of training and Iowa State is a part of that,” Campbell said. “We’ll go up there and use this to see where we are for the ultimate prize, which is Big 12s.”
Kansas sophomore Lydia Lafferty competes in the 100 fly against Arkansas on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, at Robinson Natatorium.
Kansas senior Lauren Gryboski competes in the 3-meter diving event during the meet against Arkansas on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, at Robinson Natatorium.
Kansas freshman Shiyun Lai competes in the 3-meter diving event during the meet against Arkansas on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, at Robinson Natatorium.
Kansas sophomore Gabriela San Juan Carmona competes in the 3-meter diving event, which she won, during the meet against Arkansas on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, at Robinson Natatorium.
Kansas senior Emma Walker rings the bell during the meet against Arkansas on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, at Robinson Natatorium.
Kansas senior Amélie Lessing competes in the 200 fly, which she eventually won, during the meet against Arkansas on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, at Robinson Natatorium.
Kansas freshman Halle McCullough competes in the 100 breaststroke against Arkansas on Friday, Jan. 26, 2024, at Robinson Natatorium.
Landon Cory/Special to the Journal-World
Landon Cory/Special to the Journal-World
Landon Cory/Special to the Journal-World
Landon Cory/Special to the Journal-World
Landon Cory/Special to the Journal-World
Landon Cory/Special to the Journal-World
Landon Cory/Special to the Journal-World
Landon Cory/Special to the Journal-World