LSU’s swim and dive team competed in the 2022 SEC Swimming and Diving Championships inside the Jones Aquatic Center on the University of Tennessee’s campus in Knoxville on February 15-19. The SEC Championships showcased swimming and diving events from Tuesday morning through Saturday night. LSU’s swim and dive team was confident heading into the SEC Championships after a great meet against Texas A&M on LSU’s Senior day. 

Rick Bishop, attending his first SEC Championship as head swimming coach of the purple and gold, exuded the team’s confidence.

“I’m excited for my first SEC Championship with the LSU Tigers,” Bishop said. “This is going to be a great opportunity for us to get out and challenge ourselves against the rest of the conference. We’ve got a great group, and it’s going to be a great week here. Geaux Tigers!” 

LSU diver Juan Celaya-Hernandez, who is no stranger to the podium, won his sixth SEC Championship Tuesday night, as he claimed gold on the three-meter springboard for the first time in his collegiate career. Celaya-Hernandez qualified for the one-meter springboard final with a second-place score of 356.90. In the one-meter springboard final, he earned his second podium finish of the SEC meet, finishing with the bronze and a final score of 404.25. 

 “It was really close, there is a lot of energy here in the SEC, especially at this meet with all the swimmers cheering and the whole crowd going wild, Celaya-Hernandez said. “So, that’s a little tough on your nerves and your breathing. I’ve been pursuing this for so long and it’s finally here. I’m really happy.”  

Celaya-Hernandez qualified for his third final at the 2022 SEC Championships with a third-place finish in the platform prelims. He finished with a score of 391.05 and took gold in the platform finals. This is his third SEC title on platforms and the seventh SEC Championship title of his LSU career. 

“This is a surprise, definitely; I am not a tower diver, everybody knows it,” Celaya-Hernandez said after he won gold in the platform finals and cemented himself as one of the best divers to ever come through an SEC school.”It is a grateful surprise because I also won here my freshman year on the tower, and I set the SEC record so I was pretty happy.” 

Competing in the one-meter springboard prelims, Chiara Pellacani, a native of Rome, claimed second place with a final score of 285.80. Pellacani, who recently joined the swimming and diving squad at the beginning of the Spring semester, earned the silver medal in the one-meter springboard final with a mark of 316.70. In the three-meter springboard final, Chiara Pellacani and Helle Tuxen placed silver and bronze respectively. Pellacani finished in second with a score of 356.35. Tuxen took third with a score of 352.35. Every single LSU diver made an impact and scored for the Tigers. 

LSU swimmer Brooks Curry, who swam an impressive split of 18.14 Tuesday in the 200-yard medley relay, broke his own school record in the 50-yard free with a time of 18.93. In the finals, he improved that time to the second-fastest time in the nation, 18.67. His previous time was recorded at the 2021 SEC Championships, where he clocked an 18.97. Curry cleared the ‘A’ standard of 18.96, which automatically punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships in Atlanta, his hometown.  

On Saturday, Curry continued his impressive performance at the 2022 SEC Championships by claiming gold in the 100-yard free while breaking three records with a time of 40.99. In addition to breaking his own school record of 41.77, Curry eased by Caeleb Dressel’s SEC meet record and set a new pool record for the Jones Aquatic Center. His time also cleared the NCAA ‘A’ standard for the event, automatically qualifying him for his third event in the NCAA Championships. In the 100 yard-free prelims, he took first place with a time of 41.82. His time of 40.99 in the final ranks first in the nation and is the best time on LSU’s all-time top ten list. 

Jenna Bridges, an improving freshman on this year’s squad, has continued to impress during her first season in the purple and gold. In the ‘C’ final for the 200-yard fly, Bridges finished second with a time of 1:57.07. Bridges’s time moves her up to No. 3 on the event’s top-10 times. In the prelims for the 500-yard free, she swam a time of 4:44.66, which is over a full second faster than the previous record-holder, Devon Dabney’s 4:45.89. Her program-best time of 4:44.66 qualified her for the ‘B’ final and placed her 10th in the prelims. Bridges broke her own LSU record in the finals with a time of 4:43.87. At her first SEC Championships, Bridges etched her name into LSU’s all-time top 10 list two times and now owns first and second place on the list in the 500-yard free.  

In the 200-yard IM for the men, Emil Hassling finished 15th with a time of 1:44.99 and that time moved him into 2nd on LSU’s all-time top-10 list for the event. The time of 1:44.99 was tenths of a second shy from breaking LSU’s 200-yard IM record. In the ‘B’ final, Hassling officially broke the record with a time of 4:44.74. He now holds the fastest men’s 200-yard IM time in LSU program history. 

In the 200-yard IM for the women, Hannah Bellina led the way for the Tigers, finishing in 31st place with a time of 2:01.18, which was a personal best. In the 400-yard IM, Jolee Liles placed 19th with a time of 4:14.02. Her time moved her to the No. 5 spot on LSU’s all-time top-10 for the event. Liles also swam in the 1650-free and clocked a 16:21.02. With that time, Liles now holds the new LSU school record for the event, previously held by Stephanie Smith. 

In the 200-yard free, Katarina Milutinovich qualified for the ‘C’ final with a time of 22.42. Her time climbed in the all-time top-10 list for the event from 10th to 5th. Her final time dropped by four-tenths of a second, and she placed 10th with a time of 1:46.05. Milutinovich placed 11th in the 100-yard free with a time of 48.52. Her time ties Jane Trepp’s as the fourth-fastest time in program history for the event. In the 50-yard free, Natalie Kucsan’s 20.70 places her No. 10 time on LSU’s all-time top-10 list. 

Gavin Rogers led the Tigers in the men’s 200-yard fly and placed 27th with a time of 1:46.99. That time sits at No. 10 on LSU’s all-time list for the event. All recording personal records, Julian Norman placed 34th with a time of 1:48.54, David Boylan placed 36th with a time of 1:48.78 and Ryan Warmbier finished 39th with a time of 1:50.26. 

In the 100-yard breaststroke, Emilie Boll qualified for the ‘B’ final. Boll finished in 11th place in the prelims with a time of 1:00.03. Her time currently holds the No. 6 spot on the all-time LSU list for the event. Boll placed 13th in the 100-yard breaststroke ‘B’ final. Her time of 59.92 places her ninth-ranked all-time in LSU program history. She now holds two of the top ten all-time records in LSU history for the women’s 100-yard breaststroke. Mitch Mason, the school record holder in the men’s 100-yard breaststroke, qualified for the ‘A’ final with a prelim time of 52.51. In the finals, he improved and finished in 7th with a time of 52.46.  

The relay team for the men’s 200-yard medley relay, consisting of Griffin Curtis, Mitch Mason, Emil Hassling and Brooks Curry, broke the school record with a time of 1:24.79. Curry’s split time was the fastest of the freestyle swimmers, clocking an 18.14. In the 400-yard medley relay, the women placed 11th with a time of 3:36.27 and the men claimed 7th with a time of 3:07.31. 

The Tigers’ postseason journey continues with LSU divers participating in the NCAA regionals starting on Monday, March 7 and concluding on Wednesday, March 9. The NCAA Women’s Swimming and Diving Championships begin March 16 and conclude March 19, while the Men’s Swimming and Diving Championships begin March 23 and end March 26.