The LSU swimming and diving team begins the 2014-2015 season with the annual Purple and Gold Intrasquad meet today at the LSU Natatorium.
During the event, the roster is split into two teams, Purple and Gold, and points are awarded to both swimmers and divers in various events that will occur in standard duals meets throughout the season.
The coaching staff uses the intrasquad meet to gauge the status of the swimmers and divers and to motivate them for Southeastern Conference competition.
Assistant coach Jeana Fuccillo Kempe said the team has trained hard and entered this season in great shape. She said she is eager to see the new swimmers and how they transition from the prep to the collegiate level.
“I’m really excited to see where our freshmen are,” Kempe said. “When you start racing, it becomes a different dynamic on the team and see where we are at the start of the season and what we need to work on.”
Diving coach Doug Shaffer said the intrasquad meet is a competitive, yet enjoyable event to get the team in midseason form.
Shaffer added the diving team won’t practice traditional events, but rather be worked in slowly with skill activities such as dives on the one-meter and three-meter springboards and the platform.
“[The] intrasquad meet is always an opportunity for us to start to get going on things, [and] for us to just get wet and compete, but in a fun environment,” Shaffer said.
In his eight seasons as both an assistant coach and head coach, Dave Geyer said one of the main purposes of the intrasquad meet is to get the swimmers moving at a fast pace for the actual season and for them to measure themselves as they move forward in the year.
“[For the swimmers], it’s [about] the ability to race short course again,” Geyer said. “With such a long window of not racing in this type of format, it sets the tone that ‘this is where I’m at right now, [and] how do I get better from there.’”
The season officially starts Friday, Oct. 3 at 5 p.m., when the women take on Tulane at the Reily Natatorium in New Orleans.