The diving segment of the 2011 Southeastern Conference Championships left LSU in fourth place on the men’s side and eighth place on the women’s side.
Now it’s time for the LSU swimming team to continue the effort in Gainesville, Fla., when the SEC Swimming Championships start today.
Points earned by swimmers will be added to the divers’ scores for a final score Saturday when the championships wrap up.
The SEC Swimming Championships bring some of the strongest competitors in the country together for one meet.
“The top four teams here are all in the top 10 in the country,” said LSU swimming coach David Geyer. “There is no other meet like this in the country as far as the atmosphere, teams and crowd.”
But LSU doesn’t lack talent.
Senior Jane Trepp heads into the championships with the No. 2 time in the country in the 50-yard freestyle and 100-yard butterfly. Trepp is the top seed for the 100-yard butterfly in the championships and second seed for the 50-yard freestyle.
A Trepp win would be the first SEC individual championship for a Lady Tiger swimmer since 1997.
“We expect a good meet from Jane,” Geyer said. “But we have strong athletes in all of our events.”
Sophomore Andrei Tuomola, a member of the SEC 2010 All-Freshman team, will look to lead the No. 22 men’s side in Gainesville. He is third in the SEC in the 100-yard breastroke, fourth in the 50-yard freestyle and seventh in the 100-yard freestyle.
Seniors Hannes Heyl and Clint Hallum are also looking to score points for the Tigers. Heyl ranks fifth in the conference in the 100-yard butterfly, while Hallum is the team leader in the 200-yard individual medley, the 400-yard individual medley and the 200-yard breastroke.
Hallum enters the meet with the SEC’s 10th-fastest 200 individual medley time.
Freshman Cari Blalock will look to be one of the Lady Tigers backing Trepp’s efforts. Blalock holds the seventh-fastest time in the SEC for the 200-yard butterfly.
“We seem loose,” Geyer said after the first day of practice. “I hate to sound overconfident, but I think we’re going to get some outstanding results.”
The events will begin with preliminaries Wednesday morning and continue through Saturday night’s finals.
 
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Contact Albert Burford at [email protected]