NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Three members of the Vanderbilt swimming program are set to compete at the Toyota U.S. Open Championships, with each scheduled to race in multiple events over the next three days.
While the meet gets underway on Wednesday with a pair of relay races, the Commodores won’t make their debut at the Greensboro Aquatic Center until Aubrey Hull competes in the 50 freestyle the following day. The freshman is entered in the 100 and 200 backstroke too, as is graduate student Libby Gilbert who also is currently scheduled to take part in the 200 free. Senior Kailia Utley is set to swim the 100 and 200 butterfly on the final two days of the meet for the Dores as well.
“It’s a big accomplishment to be able to swim at a meet of this magnitude,” head coach Jeremy Organ said. “The goal is to rise up to the occasion and the level of the meet. This is the type of competition that we’ll see at the SEC Championships, it will give us the opportunity to race in a high-level atmosphere.”
Both Utley and Gilbert qualified for the championships with marks recorded during the 2023-24 season, when the former competed at the NCAA Championships in the 100 (52.92) and 200 (1:55.51) fly the latter met the NCAA B cut in the 200 back (1:54.42). Gilbert’s time of 1:47.27 in the 200 free was also posted at the 2023 Ohio State Invitational.
Hull, the first SEC Freshman of the Week this season, has already set a school record in the 100 back and broke the previous freshman mark in the 200 back her first semester competing at the collegiate level. Her seeding times of 53.03 in the 100 back and 1:55.84 in the 200 back were recorded at the NC STAR Tarheel States meet in March.
Starting on Thursday, each day of the competition will feature preliminary heats that will get underway at 8 a.m. CT with finals scheduled for 5 p.m.
