The LSU swimming and diving teams fell to 14th-ranked Texas A&M Friday at the LSU Natatorium, despite the return of five-time NCAA All-American Evan Martinec.
The Tigers, fresh off a sweep of Louisiana-Monroe, started off well winning five of the first eight events. The Aggies then rebounded to win 13 of the next 14 events, including four first, second, and third place sweeps. The LSU men lost by a final score of 181-119, while the women’s team was defeated 156-132.
“I thought the men overall swam pretty well,” said LSU associate head coach Lars Jorgensen. “They have a little more depth than we do and towards the end of the meet they kind of pulled away.”
LSU assistant swimming coach Amanda Norton agreed with Jorgensen’s assessment.
“We had some good swims and some bad swims,” Norton said. “It really was a mixed bag of results.”
The Tigers were helped by the return of Martinec, who showed no signs of rust in his first meet back after being declared ineligible for the fall semester. The senior captured first place and set a pool record with a time of 48.07 in the 100-yard backstroke. Martinec’s time of 49.14 in the 100-yard butterfly was also good enough for first place honors.Martinec also swam the 200-yard medley relay with Christian Clausen, Neil Lowe and Ross Hebert. The quartet won the event with a season-best time of 1:30.44.
Jorgensen said he was pleased to see Martinec make an immediate impact in his return to the pool.
“He’s huge,” Jorgensen said. “He’s such a valuable player for us in the relays. He’s an All-American, so he makes a big difference.”
Junior Jan Minartz and and senior Chris Stanczyk also posted strong performances for the Tigers. Minartz won the 500 and 1000-yard freestyle events, while Stanczyk’s time of 1.38.86 in the 200-yard freestlye was an NCAA “B-cut” qualifying time. A “B-cut” time means that if a swimmer qualifies for the NCAA champoinships with an “A-cut” time in another event, he can also swim in events in which he recorded a B-cut time.
In the women’s events, senior All-American Stephanie Smith won the 500 and 1000-yard freestlye events with times of 4:56.32 and 10:03.57. Freshmen divers Hali Saucier and Alyson Carlyson also continued their strong rookie campaigns. Sauicer finished first in the 1-meter dive, while Carylon placed second in the 3-meter event.
The women’s team continues its schedule with a home meet against Rice Friday at 4 p.m., followed by both teams in action Saturday against Florida State at noon. The team will then participate in the Senior National Championships in Orlando, Fla. Feb. 11, before taking a two-week break to prepare for the SEC Championships Feb. 25.
“Ultimately it really counts in four and a half weeks at SEC,” Norton said. “We’re really looking more towards the end of the season at this stage. Friday’s meet will be a good one and Florida State is going to be another tough meet for us.”