The LSU men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished the first meet of the season without losing a race Saturday, taking a pair of 64-38 victories at Centenary.
In a meet structured to include only the shorter individual swims — along with the 200-yard freestyle and medley relays — the Tigers claimed the top spot in each race and returned home with a bounty of experience that swimming coach Dave Geyer said will pay off later in the season.
“It was a great experience for our team to get some travel under their belts early in the season,” Geyer said. “The freshman class needed to learn the intricacies of travel to compete at a high level.”
A host of Tiger freshmen made their mark in the pool Saturday in multiple events.
Three LSU freshmen swept the top three places in the 200 free, paced by Megan Cox (1:53.68), who out-touched Danielle Stirrat (1:53.71) at the wall, followed closely by Jesse James (1:54.33).
Fellow freshman Taryn MacKenzie ran away with the top spot in the 100 breast, beating the second-place finisher to the wall by six seconds, and Rebecca Werdine swam the fastest 50 free time (25.38) to take first place in the event.
On the men’s side, freshman Grant Grenfell took first in the 100 backstroke with a time of 52.32 seconds.
LSU junior Michael Saco posted a 21.17 in the 50 free to notch a first place finish, just ahead of senior Tiger Zack Wepasnick (21.89). Additionally, freshmen Gabe Rooker (57.24) and Colin Finnegan (1:02.19) notched a one-two finish in the 100 breast.
In the women’s 100 back, senior Jana Ruimerman placed first with a swim of 59.04 seconds, just five-hundredths of a second ahead of sophomore Jennifer Reese.
Geyer said his squads’ early success is a good starting point, but there’s still more to be done to prepare the Tigers for stiffer competition later in the season.
“We definitely are at a point in the season where we need to put some more hay in the barn before we begin to compete against some tough SEC opponents,” Geyer said.
LSU’s women’s squad opens SEC competition Oct. 10 at Vanderbilt, and the men start conference meets with a dual-meet at Auburn on Oct. 20.
The Tiger divers will join the swimmers for their first structured competition Sept. 28, when LSU holds its annual Purple and Gold Intrasquad on Sept. 28 at the LSU Natatorium.
