Over the past four years, head swim coach Rick Bishop has been diligently building his team from the ground up, seeking out the most resilient and ambitious competitors in both the pool and the classroom.
Bishop outlined how the LSU swim and dive team is preparing for the 2024-25 swim season with great optimism, even though the team has many newcomers, which can raise uncertainty.
“There is nothing more dangerous than an athlete who has something to prove, and when we get kids like that, they’re going to explode,” Bishop said.
This season, LSU welcomes 13 incoming freshmen and two transfers of all different specialties, from sprint freestyle to individual medley. The team will largely be looking to build and surpass the previous season’s successes.
Last year, the Tigers saw solid individual performances from swimmers like Jere Hribar. He’s a 6-foot-9 sprint freestyler who swam an 18.81-second 50 freestyle at the 2024 NCAA Championship.
Jenna Bridges also offers strong talent for the Tigers. She swam the 200 fly at the 2023 SEC Championships, with a time of 1:54.18, shattering the school record. Bridges was also named team captain this season.
With these exceptional athletes leading the charge, the team is ready to make an impact this season. But it won’t be easy.
The Tigers’ schedule is packed with competitive dual meets, featuring strong matchups against top programs like Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 8 and the University of Texas in Baton Rouge on Oct. 11.
The upcoming meets will be a strong indication of the Tigers’ potential to shine at the SEC Championship in Athens, Georgia, and then at the NCAA championship in Washington State.
With the team bringing in so many freshmen, it’ll be interesting to see the rookies make the transition from being big fish in a small pond back home to becoming little fish in a big pond in the SEC.
“The metaphor we use is ‘it’s like drinking water from a hose;’ you’re taking so many things in at once,” Bishop said.
The team also has impressive divers, who are expected to make a significant impact, especially after Helle Tuxen represented Norway at the 2024 Olympics.
LSU had even more swimmers and divers represent their respected country at the Olympics.
Eleven Tigers were under the bright lights of the Paris games. Four of them will be returning to Baton Rouge to compete this season and contribute to the team chemistry on the pool deck.
Back in the 2021-22 season, the Tigers made big waves in the water with their strong performance by swimmers. Olympic sprint freestyler Brooks Curry took home two NCAA champion titles, and sprint butterflyer Maggie MacNeil won the 50 freestyle, with a time of 20.79.
In that NCAA championship, LSU was on the map and became a force to be reckoned with on the scoreboard. There was no denying they had talent.
So how will Bishop continue pushing his team to the next level and prove the Tigers are here to stay in the competition scene?
Well, Bishop sees the grit of this young team and how it’s putting in work to prove its talent to the rest of the swimming world.
“We will not back down from teams like the University of Texas and Alabama, who are all very strong on the senior side,” Bishop said.
In the coming weeks, LSU’s new and returning swimmers of LSU will take the blocks and show the SEC what they can do. Along with this, there’s already a strong recruiting class underway for the 2025-26 year, Bishop said.
He also discussed that the team isn’t worried about the new NCAA time standards that have recently been released. These Tigers know what it will take to prove that they can go toe-to-toe with the top competitors of the SEC.
The tools to be successful are right in front of them and within reach. So, who will be the athletes that go that extra mile and swim their way into podium finishes?
Only time will tell, as the season begins in the first week of October.
