The LSU Natatorium will be flush with Tigers today when the LSU men’s swimming and diving squads host Auburn in their first home dual meet.
For the 15th consecutive time, the Auburn men’s squads open the season defending a Southeastern Conference Championship.
Auburn bested Florida by 17 points in last season’s SEC Championship, earning its 17th title in the last 18 years.
LSU (0-2, 0-1 SEC) faces Auburn after falling to Florida last weekend in Gainesville, Fla.
Swimming coach Dave Geyer said his squads are on the right track despite suffering the loss last weekend.
“We know moving forward, with the times we’re putting up on the board, we’re in a great position looking at our conference lineup and what we’ll have depth-wise,” Geyer said.
Geyer said he doesn’t know who will swim in which events for Auburn this weekend, since it’s Auburn’s first meet.
“We really don’t have anything scouting-wise to look out for, so it’s going to be interesting to see what kind of lineup they have and where they’re at with their training and first-meet jitters,” he said.
Junior long-distance swimmer Craig Hamilton said the main goal for LSU against Auburn is simply to put their hands on the wall first, but also mentioned a specific rivalry he wants to command this weekend.
Sophomore Zane Grothe was an All-American a year ago and set an Auburn record in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 14:07.09.
“I beat him twice last year, but it was close,” Hamilton said. “It came down to the touch.”
Diving coach Doug Shaffer said he is looking forward to seeing his divers compete and “figure out a way to make it happen.”
He said he is glad to be home, where his divers can benefit from the intimacy of the LSU Natatorium in competition for the first time this season.
“It’s nice to dive on familiar diving boards with familiar spotting and lighting,” Shaffer said. “It’s an obvious home-pool advantage.”
After last week’s performance against Florida, senior diver Matt Vieke was named SEC Male Diver of the Week. Vieke scored a 317.77 on the one-meter springboard and 340.65 on the three-meter against Florida, placing him second and third, respectively.
Shaffer said while Vieke did a great job, there is more he can and will do as the season progresses.
“That was just a building block for him in a process as we go through the season to continue to step up like that,” Shaffer said.
 
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Contact Scott Branson at [email protected].