Coming off fifth-place finishes for both the men and women at the Southeastern Conference Championship last weekend, the LSU swimming and diving teams will send five athletes to the 2011 Last Chance Meet on Saturday and Sunday in Athens, Ga.
“It’s an opportunity right after the conference meet while we’re still rested to try to hopefully improve those NCAA rankings to try to get selected for the championship meet,” said swimming coach Dave Geyer.
Sophomore Torrey Bussey will be the lone Lady Tiger participating in the meet. Bussey had a disappointing showing at the SEC Championship, posting a season low in the 200-meter breaststroke for a 13th-place finish.
On the men’s side, four athletes will compete, including freshman Frank Greeff, sophomore Ricardo Alvarado Jiminez and juniors Sean Roddy and Andrei Tuomola.
At the SEC Championship, Greeff won an unexpected bronze medal in the 200-meter butterfly after qualifying seventh, posting the second-fastest time in LSU history at 1:45.03.
Tuomola also picked up a bronze of his own in the 100-meter breaststroke.
“If all those guys can go in and drop anywhere between a tenth to two-tenths of a second in their main events, it will enhance their ability to qualify for the [NCAA Championship],” Geyer said.
Neither the women nor men will send relay teams or divers to the meet this weekend.
Geyer said he expects the women’s 200-meter freestyle relay to be selected for the NCAA Championship, but he doesn’t have the same optimism for the men.
“Unfortunately this year, I think our men’s relays are too far out,” Geyer said. “We just have to build on the future for them.”
Geyer said he is pleased with the performance of his teams in the SEC Championship, but underlined the importance of this weekend’s meet heading into the final stages of the season.
“It’s the complete opposite environment from our conference championship,” Geyer said. “It’s a laid-back event. Some athletes can really thrive off of that, so its good to see how they step up into that format to compete against the clock more than other teams.”
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