After a short 10-day break from practice, the LSU swimming and diving teams are back in action.
The No. 22 Tigers (5-4) and No. 23 Lady Tigers (9-3) swimming teams defeated Penn, Brown and Florida Atlantic on Jan. 5 while falling to Purdue in the Florida Atlantic Invitational in Boca Raton, Fla.
The next day, the teams went on to Florida International University, where the Lady Tigers posted wins over the host Panthers and American University but lost to Kansas.
The men dominated American University, while senior Luis Gonzalez finished first in both the 500-yard and 1000-yard freestyle race.
While the swimming teams racked up wins in Florida, the diving team took part in the Tennessee Invitational in Knoxville, Tenn.
Freshman Daniel Helm and sophomore Rebecca St. Germain led the Tigers at the Invitational. Helm finished seventh in the men’s platform competition, while St. Germain earned second place in the 1-meter springboard competition, missing out on a first place finish by less than three points.
LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer explained the importance of the Tennessee Invitational.
“The reason we have this meet is to put ourselves in a championship meet format competition,” Shaffer said. “Everybody we’ll see at [Southeastern Conference] Championships except Alabama, Arkansas, and Vanderbilt were there, as well as some [Atlantic Coast Conference] schools.”
The break was short, but LSU swimming coach David Geyer noted how necessary it is to work hard during the time off.
“Swimming is one of those sports where for every one day you’re out of the water, it takes another two days to get back in their groove, and the swimmers know that,” Geyer said. “They’ve been doing this long enough to understand the importance of staying in the water.”
Prior to the meet at FAU, the swimming teams had a seven-week break in competition. For Geyer, the meet was more about getting back into top form than winning or losing.
“The difference between our first meet on Wednesday and that second meet on Thursday was dramatic,” Geyer said. “We made some adjustments and worked with detail a lot, and were a lot better focused.”
Both teams are looking forward to the SEC Championships, which are coming up in February. Though they don’t have any seniors, Shaffer says the diving team still finds leadership and a good balance of talent.
“We have a lot of young talent, and the upperclassmen add a level of maturity to the team that the underclassmen can learn from,” Shaffer said.
Helm, though a freshman, said he is more excited than nervous about the upcoming SEC Championships.
“I love competing,” he said. “If you put in all that work and hard training, you know it’s going to pay off.”
 
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Contact Albert Burford at [email protected]