LSU women’s freshman swimmer Kara Kopcso earned Southeastern Conference Female Freshman of the Week after a strong string of performances Saturday against Texas A&M.
Kopcso received the honor for the second time this season after setting a school and Natatorium record — signifying the best time ever recorded for an event by any school inside the Natatorium — in the 200 yard butterfly.
Kopcso finished with a time of 1:56.12, beating defending NCAA champion Cammile Adams, who holds the fastest 200 yard butterfly time in the country this year.
Kopcso’s time is faster than the qualifying time for last year’s NCAA Championships. Kopcso also finished first in the 100 yard butterfly, giving her eight wins on the year, which leads the women’s squad.
“I think those swims this past weekend are just scratching the surface of [Kopcso’s] potential,” LSU swimming coach Dave Geyer said in a news release. “There were a number of specific goals she had at the beginning of the year. Breaking that school record was one. Qualifying for NCAAs is another and she put herself in a position to do so with that time.”
The LSU men’s squad earned the No. 22 spot in the country in the latest College Swimming Coaches Association of America NCAA Division 1 Men’s Swimming and Diving poll.
The ranking comes after a strong outing by the Tigers Saturday beating Texas A&M 157.5-142.5. The Tigers’ No. 22 ranking marks the first time this year the men have cracked the top 25, and the first time since Jan. 22, 2013, when LSU and Missouri both claimed the No. 24 ranking.
“I think it’s great for the CSCAA to recognize us for our performances over the past few weekends,” Geyer said. “Like we emphasized all year, the season is a progression for us, and this shows we are taking the right steps for a great end of season performance at the SEC Championships.”
The men were led into this ranking in large because of to the performance of junior swimmer Frank Greeff, who scored victories in both the 100 and 200 yard butterfly.
Both squads get a weekend off before traveling to Houston, Texas, to take on Tulane, Rice and Houston Jan. 31 to Feb. 1.