LSU swimming coach David Geyer said the Tigers’ goal at the start of the season was to finish fifth in the Southeastern Conference Championships.
The Tigers and Lady Tigers accomplished that goal during the past two weeks at the SEC Championships, winning 15 medals and setting 13 school records.
The divers put the LSU men in fourth place going into the championships, while the Lady Tigers divers had LSU in eighth place.
At the end of the championships, the men and women both sat in fifth place.
Wins at the event didn’t come easy, with four SEC teams ranked in the top 10 in the nation. The Tigers’ fifth-place finish was their best since 2000.
“The men were in a bit of a hole at one point,” Geyer said in a press release. “But they fought back and took care of business.”
The women’s fifth-place finish was their best since 2002. The Lady Tigers scored 131 more points than last year and 141 more than their closest competitor, South Carolina.
“We pretty much rewrote our record books on the women’s side,” Geyer said.
Senior Jane Trepp won the first individual gold medal for an LSU swimmer since Lucy Findlay in 1997 with a first-place finish in the 100-yard breastroke. She is only the ninth swimmer in U.S. Open history to finish the event in less than 59 seconds.
“It’s been a long time coming for her, and she certainly deserves that title and record,” Geyer said. “She’s not only one of the best athletes this program has ever seen, but also one of the most modest, which is what makes her truly special.”
Senior Hannes Heyl won a bronze medal in the 100-yard butterfly for the Tigers on Saturday night. Heyl swam to a seventh-place finish in the 100-yard backstroke the same night.
“For Hannes as a senior to step up and get his first podium swim and handle that double, it’s great,” Geyer said.
 
 
____
Contact Albert Burford at [email protected]