It was a rough start for the LSU swimming and diving teams as they dropped their first two meets of the season to Georgia and Clemson.
The men’s team lost to No. 10 Georgia 117-77 while the women’s team was defeated 114-75 last Friday.
“I didn’t realize how early it really is,” said LSU coach Jeff Cavana. “It’s maybe the earliest start ever. It was rough.”
The Georgia meet consisted of long course races. The lengths of the events were longer than the Tigers are used to and Cavana said that was hard for his team.
The women’s team won 3 of the 11 events at Georgia.
Junior Margot Gathings beat the Bulldogs’ Mary DeScenza in the 300-meter butterfly with a time of 3:53.23. DeScenza finished No. 4 at the World Championships in the 200-meter butterfly.
“Margot swam really well,” said LSU coach Jeff Cavana. “She had to go in back to back events which was brutal, but she did really well.”
Senior Stephanie Smith won the 800-meter freestyle event with a time of 9:04.26. Smith also finished second in the 1,500-meter freestyle in a time of 17:12.03.
Senior Donna Leslie took the 100-meter freestyle victory in a time of 1:01.26 for the Tigers.
The men also won 3 of the 11 events. Junior Myles Jaynes won the 300-meter butterfly in 3:42.03 while senior Neil Lowe took the victory in the 300-meter backstroke finishing in 3:45.86.
LSU’s freestyle relay team of Chris Stanczyk, Jan Minartz, Ryan Ashby and Justin Boyes won the 800-meter event with a time of 8:12.11.
The Tigers immediately left for Clemson, S.C. where the men’s team lost to Clemson 252-184 and the women fell 290-200.
Clemson was a successful season opener for the diving team, who did not compete in Georgia.
Senior All-American Jessica Wantz finished first in the 3-meter while freshman Hali Saucier took the victory in the 1-meter. Freshman Alyson Carlyon took second in the 1-meter. Saucier’s performance qualified her for the NCAA zone meet which is the qualifying competition for nationals.
“Overall we did real well,” said diving coach Doug Shaffer. “The freshmen had to travel and walk into a new environment. They did a good job.”
Wantz said she was not surprised by the outstanding performances of Saucier and Carlyon.
“They’ve been doing really well in practice,” Wantz said.
The veteran said she needs to improve on strength and consistency.
“Obviously she has potential to be at the elite level,” Shaffer said of Wantz. “She needs to continue to improve in the mental game.”
Shaffer said freshman diver Adam Hebert could only compete in one event due to a triceps injury. He said freshmen Andy Crum and Andrew Keane both brought improvements from practice to the meet.
The Clemson meet was strictly a relay competition with the LSU men’s team winning two events.
Jared Strecker, Lowe and Ryan Cochran won the 300-yard butterfly relay with a time of 2:37.78. Lowe, Minartz, Jaynes and Stanczyk took the 800-yard freestyle relay victory in 6:56.25.
The swimming and diving teams have three weeks to focus on improvements and practice as their next meet is not until Oct. 24. LSU will then take on Alabama at Tuscaloosa.