Although the LSU swimming and diving team fell short against Texas A&M on Saturday, one longstanding senior day tradition continued.
Minutes after the conclusion of the meet, senior swimmers Samantha Goates, Simon Diefenthal, Martin Jungfleisch, Rick Duran and Steffen Voelkel, along with senior diver Matt Vieke, climbed to the top of the diving platform and jumped into the pool as a group.
“It’s something that started well before I got here,” said swimming coach Dave Geyer. “The divers have a little bit more finesse than the swimmers. Usually some of the swimmers stand up there and shake for a little.”
The Tigers (1-4, 1-2 Southeastern Conference) fell to the Aggies, 167.3-132.5, while the Lady Tigers (2-3, 1-1 SEC) lost, 181-115.
“Performance-wise, I was pleased,” Geyer said. “But obviously point-wise, it did not turn out the way I wanted it to be.”
Junior Amanda Kendall paced the Lady Tigers as they swept the sprint freestyle events winning the 100-yard freestyle and Goates claiming the 50-yard crown.
“[Kendall] was pushed in her races, it was good to see her respond to that,” Geyer said. “That’s what I like to see from her as we approach SECs [championship] and NCAAs [championship] and Olympic trials.”
Kendall also claimed the title in the 100-butterfly and the 200-freestyle, missing the 200-freestyle Natatorium record she set earlier in the year by .03 seconds.
Junior Craig Hamilton swept the freestyle distance events for the Tigers, taking the gold in both the 500- and 1000-yard freestyle swims.
Sophomores Ricardo Alvarado Jiminez and Michael Saco each posted season-low times — Jiminez in the 400-yard individual medley and Saco in the 50-yard freestyle.
“We have a little bit of fine-tuning to do in practice before we move to conference,” Geyer said.
Freshman diver Alex Bettridge broke the school record in the three-meter competition while setting a new personal high in the one-meter.
“I knew the competition with A&M was going to be strong when they came in,” said diving coach Doug Shaffer. “I think our Tigers held well.”
Vieke barely missed breaking the school record on the three-meter, while sophomore Jesse Lyman met qualifying marks for the NCAA Zone Regionals. All seven LSU divers have now met the marks.
“I wanted to compete, to have a good experience here and be looking forward to our most important part of the season,” Shaffer said.
Shaffer lauded his lone senior, Vieke, calling him a tremendous leader, a role model and a true representation of an LSU student-athlete.
The swimming and diving team returns to competition Friday when the Lady Tigers travel to Houston to take on Tulane, Houston and Rice.
 
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