LSU swim and dive collected 14 qualifications to Atlanta for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships at the three-day NCAA Zone D diving regional, which took place inside the Soderholm Family Aquatic Center in Madison, Wisconsin.

“I’m so proud of this group and their efforts this week,” diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “Arguably, the NCAA zone regional is a mentally tough competition, and we were very focused on the task at hand. With that success, it provides us the opportunity to join our qualified swimmers on the national stage in Atlanta. I’m excited for the next two weeks!”

Fifth-year senior Celaya-Hernandez started off his final postseason stint strong on the three-meter, placing first in prelims with a score of 422.95. In the finals, Celaya-Hernandez closed out the three-meter competition with a meet-high score of 903.00. This score was nearly 100 points higher than the next best diver.

Freshman Adrian Abadia also competed at a very high level in his first chance at reaching the NCAA Championships. After finishing second in the three-meter prelims behind Celaya-Hernandez with a score of 418.25, he placed third in the finals with a score of 799.20. 

Celaya-Hernandez and Abadia qualified for their second event in the 2022 NCAA Championships after finishing second and seventh, respectively, in the one-meter final. The qualifying mark for the men’s one-meter was only the top-8 finishers. Celaya-Hernandez took first place in the prelims with a score of 413.65. He placed second in the final with a score of 814.35. Abadia qualified after finishing seventh in the prelims with a score of 346.05 and finished seventh in the final with a score of 706.45.

Celaya-Hernandez, who won two SEC championships at the 2022 rendition of the event, has a chance to become an NCAA champion in three events: one-meter, three-meter and platform. Celaya-Hernandez claimed first place on platform in the prelims with a score of 409.85. In the final, he booked his third ticket this season to the NCAA Championships with a score of 696.10 and a fourth-place finish.

On the women’s side, four Tigers qualified for the final on the one-meter springboard. Freshman Chiara Pellacani led the way for the Purple and Gold. She placed fifth in the prelims with a score of 306.60. Close behind her, Helle Tuxen took seventh place with a score of 299.65 and Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant finished in 11th place with a score of 284.05. The final LSU diver to qualify for the final was Anne Tuxen, who placed 15th with a score of 273.65.

Maggie Buckley narrowly missed competing in the one-meter springboard final, claiming 21st place with a score of 258.20. In the final, Pellacani placed fourth with a score of 613.15 and Helle finished in sixth place with a score of 603.50. Gutierrez Lavenant closed out the sensational day for the Tigers with a score of 594.00 and finished eighth. All three scores were good enough to send them to the 2022 NCAA Championships.

For the women, Chiara Pellacani, Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant and Helle Tuxen all matched their efforts from the first day, also qualifying for their second NCAA Championship event on the three-meter. In the prelims, Pellacani claimed fourth place with a score of 348.95 and held her spot in the final with a score of 704.60.

Due to the NCAA’s Zone D allotment for the women’s three-meter sitting at 11, Gutierrez Lavenant and Tuxen both qualified for a spot in the event. Gutierrez Lavenant closed out the prelims with a seventh-place finish and a score of 341.95, while Tuxen took ninth with a score of 321.85. In the final, Gutierrez Lavenant placed ninth with a score of 648.60 and Tuxen finished 11th with a score of 640.20.

Montserrat Gutierrez Lavenant and Helle Tuxen qualified for the finals in all three events they competed in. Gutierrez Lavenant closed out the platform prelims with a score of 316.80 and finished in first place. In the final, she closed out her regional competition in third place with a score of 608.80. Helle finished in sixth place in the prelims with a score of 272.10 and maintained her spot in the final with a score of 537.40.

Anne Tuxen and Maggie Buckley both made the three-meter final. Tuxen narrowly missed qualifying for NCAAs with a final score of 637.55 and finished in 13th place. Buckley made her first regional final after finishing 17th with a score of 302.40 in the prelims. In the final, she placed 15th with a score of 602.40. After placing seventh in the prelims with a score of 260.40, Tuxen finished eighth in the platform final and qualified for the NCAA Championships. Buckley, a promising freshman, made her second regional final and finished in 10th place with a score of 518.50 on platform.

“I’m very happy with the additional events we qualified in today,” Shaffer said. “Juan and Adrian qualified on the one-meter while Helle, Montserrat and Chiara did so on the three-meter. Anne was very close on three-meter and Maggie made her first regional final.” 

Zayne Danielewicz collected three personal bests while competing in diving zones. He qualified for the final with a prelim score of 346.05 and placed 18th with a score of 543.55.

The Women’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships will take place March 16-19. The Men’s NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships is scheduled for March 23-26.