After a truncated preseason practice schedule, the LSU men’s and women’s swimming teams kick of their 2012-13 campaign on the road against in-state opponent Centenary in Shreveport, La.
Having lost practice time in two of the last three weeks, LSU swim coach Dave Geyer said the Tigers are still developing their team’s identity in and out of the pool.
“Our season has been so broken so far this year, with our ‘hurrication’ and [the bomb threat] Monday,” Geyer said. “I want to see how our team interacts in a competitive field and I want to see what type of leaders we have in this program and who’s going to step up.”
LSU will have to make up for lost time in the pool against Centenary, who has the only other men’s collegiate swimming squad in Louisiana.
Despite the relative proximity between the two schools, LSU and Centenary have no recent history together in the pool, a fact Geyer said he’s motivated to change.
“I spoke with [Centenary coach Butch] Jordan a lot about it and I think it’s important — no matter what division or where anybody’s ranked — that these two teams compete against each other on occasion to showcase our sport and get it growing a little bit in our state,” Geyer said. “It’s good for the sport and it’s good for Louisiana.”
Going on the road early in the season, even if it’s just a few hours away, gives the new Tigers a chance to experience for the first time all that comes with going on the road before the competitive season is in full swing.
“It gives them a taste of what it’s like, going up to the meet the day before, the hotel room and getting up going through pre-meet,” Geyer said. “It’s important to try to work out some of those details to gain that experience as we move forward into [Southeastern Conference] competition.”
LSU’s women’s squad opens SEC competition Oct. 10 at Vanderbilt, and the men start conference meets with a dual-meet at Auburn on Oct. 20.
As with every new season, Geyer said there’s leadership roles that will be filled in the coming weeks ahead of conference meets.
“There’s a great deal of leadership potential in this program, upperclassmen and freshmen, so it’s sort of whoever wants to take that role,” Geyer said. “I want to see our team build up a little bit this weekend as we perform [against Centenary].”
The Tigers hold their annual Purple and Gold Intrasquad on Sept. 28 at the LSU Natatorium for the squads’ first home competition.
