With the men on a hiatus, nine Lady Tigers will represent LSU swimming and diving at the SMU Classic in Dallas, Texas, this weekend. The event runs Oct. 17 to 18, with both meets starting at 6:30 p.m. in the Perkins Natatorium. 
The eight swimmers for LSU (1-1, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) are junior Caley Oquist, senior Amber Carter, sophomore Leah Troskot, junior Sophie Weber, sophomore Kara Kopsco, junior Megan Cox, junior Danielle Stirrat and sophomore Colleen O’Neil. Senior Alex Bettridge is the lone diver for the Lady Tigers.
Weber said she is eager to make the trip and compete against schools that the team usually doesn’t race. Weber said the team’s training has remained consistent, and she is confident the team will have a successful outing.  
Kopcso and O’Neil each had a pair of victories during the Florida dual meet on Oct. 10. Kopsco won the 200 butterfly and the 200 individual medley, while O’Neil claimed first place in both the 100 and 200
breaststroke races. 
Carter, Weber and Oquist all garnered top-three finishes during last week’s meet. Troskot, Cox and Stirrat will look to build off their respective top-three placings in the Lady Tigers’ victory against Tulane on Oct. 3. 
Despite losing to the Gators, Bettridge said the Lady Tigers had solid outputs and added she expects them to be ready to travel to Texas and give their best performance. Personally, Bettridge wants to maintain her focus and not
grow complacent.
“For me, practice has been going really well,” Bettridge said. “The key thing [moving forward] is consistency, and that’s what I’m going [into the SMU Classic] looking to do.” 
The LSU swimming and diving team has made annual trips to various destinations in Texas like to Houston, Dallas, College Station and Austin over the past two seasons. Bettridge said she enjoys traveling to the state because Texas, like Florida, provides intense competitors for her and the team. 
“The best thing about going to Texas is that I always know that there’s going to be competition there,” Bettridge said. “Texas is a really big [swimming and diving] state, so when you go to Texas, you know it’s going to be a fight.”