The LSU swimming and diving teams returned home from a week in Atlanta and four days of events with seventh-place finishes in the Southeastern Conference Championships.”Overall, I’m very proud of our group for coming out and competing hard throughout the competition,” LSU coach Adam Schmitt said in a news release. “The standings didn’t necessarily work out for us in the end, but we did have some great times and diving performances over the past four days.”Several Tigers and Lady Tigers broke individual bests and school    records during the week.The Tigers and Lady Tigers kicked off the meet by breaking school records in the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay.The Tigers’ medley relay time of 1 minute, 26 seconds was good enough for third place at the meet and also ranks third in the nation. The Lady Tigers’ fourth-place finishing time of 7 minutes, 14.54 seconds in the 800-yard freestyle relay broke an LSU record set in 1997.Day two saw individual records fall as junior Jane Trepp broke her own record in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.34 seconds. The time ranks seventh in the nation.Sophomore diver Brian Gemberling placed sixth in the 1-meter springboard with a score of 364.60, third all-time in program history.”It was a good day for LSU diving all around,” LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said Thursday in a news release. “The highlight was obviously Brian getting to his second final with a career-high score in the 1-meter.”Trepp wasn’t done breaking records after Thursday, as she broke two more of her own Friday. She placed fifth in the 100-yard butterfly with a school record-breaking time of 53.00 seconds and seventh in the 100-yard breaststroke.Freshman Craig Hamilton placed sixth in the 1,650-yard freestyle on the final day of competition, smashing the LSU record by 13 seconds. Sophomore Mary Beck placed seventh in the 200-yard backstroke, also breaking a school record.The Tigers and Lady Tigers ended the meet with NCAA ‘B’ cut marks in the 400-yard freestyle relay. The Tigers placed sixth, and the Lady Tigers placed fifth.”Craig had a great swim today in the mile race and will definitely be in the running for a bid to NCAAs, and Mary improved her school record in the 200 back,” Schmitt said in a news release Friday.Schmitt said he is looking toward a good showing in the NCAA championship meet.”I’m pretty sure we qualified some of our men’s and women’s swimmers to NCAAs,” Schmitt said. “Ultimately, our goal is to do well there, and I think it will come together when we get there.”The Tigers have a “Last Chance Meet” on Feb. 27 and Feb. 28 for any swimmers who haven’t qualified for NCAA championships. The NCAA Zone B Diving Regional is March 12-14, followed by the women’s NCAA championships on March 18-20 and the men’s NCAA championships on March 25-27.–Contact Katherine Terrell at [email protected]