The LSU men’s swimming and diving team lost a close meet at home Friday to South Carolina, 133-110, while the women’s team lost to the Gamecocks, 144-96.
Both teams swam without key athletes.
LSU’s Stephanie Smith, the school record-holder in the 1,000 and 1,650-yard freestyles, was unable to compete due to the aggravation of a previous neck injury.
“I haven’t been able to train much,” Smith said.
The Tigers’ leading long distance freestyle swimmer said she has to remain out of the water for seven more days and will begin physical therapy before she can return.
Smith originally injured her neck in high school when another swimmer jumped on top of her while she was in the water.
The school record-holder in the men’s 100-yard backstroke, Evan Martinec, also was unable to swim.
The three-time All-American is ineligible to compete this semester. Smith said she is uncertain of when Martinec will be able to return to competition.
However, a combination of first and second place performances by several different Tigers kept the men’s team close to the Gamecocks in the conference duel meet.
Senior Matthew Rucker and sophomore Ross Hebert finished first and second place, respectively, in the 50-yard freestyle. Rucker touched the wall in 20.75 while Hebert followed in 21.11. Rucker also took first place in the 100-yard breaststroke in 56.84 to top the Gamecocks’ Istvan Bathazi by over two seconds.
Senior Chris Stanczyk won the 100-yard freestyle in 46.70. Stanczyk joined Hebert, Robbie Moon and Jan Minartz to win the men’s 200-yard freestyle relay with a time of 1:23.84. They beat out the Gamecocks’ relay team by over two seconds.
Tamas Szucs led South Carolina with wins in the 200 and 500-yard freestyle events.
Stanczyk finished second to Szucs in the 200-yard freestyle following two seconds behind with a time of 1:41.46.
Junior Myles Jaynes came out on top in the 1,650-yard freestyle after finishing in 15:49.90.
Jared Strecker added to the Tigers points by touching the wall first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 51.60 while Neil Lowe took first in the 100-yard butterfly in 50.17.
The top finisher for the Tigers in the men’s diving events was freshman Adam Hebert who finished third in both the 1 and 3-meter events.
Junior Lauren Harvey swam the women’s 100-yard breaststroke in a time of 1:05.40 to get the win while sophomore Jenna Molinski won the 400-yard individual medley in a time of 4:32.09.
Junior Lindsey Staak captured the win in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.01. Staak along with Harvey, Heather Brand and Bethany Cottingham added 11 points for the Tigers with a win in the 200-yard medley relay. They swam the event in 1:46.51, just over a second faster than South Carolina’s team of Heather Skaggs, Kendel Florentino, Carolynn McHugh and Haley Skaggs.
Freshman Hali Saucier was the only female diver to compete for the Tigers last Friday. Saucier, in her first home meet as a Tiger, finished third in both the 1 and 3-meter diving events.
“It is a disappointing loss,” said associate head coach Lars Jorgensen. “It is always disappointing to lose, but we did a lot of things better than we have been doing. There definitely were some positives out there that will help us next semester.”