The LSU swimming and diving team will honor six seniors Saturday when they face archrival and future conference foe Texas A&M at noon.
Seniors Simon Diefenthal, Rick Duran, Martin Jungfleisch and Steffen Voelkel will swim for the final time in the Natatorium for the Tigers (1-3, 1-2 Southeastern Conference), attempting to hand the Aggies their first dual meet loss of the season.
“I’m hoping [the seniors] can go out with great performances and fond memories of the program here,” said swimming coach Dave Geyer. “It’s always a great dual meet between us and them.”
Senior Matt Vieke will lead the Tiger divers in his last home dual meet, facing one of the premier programs in the country.
“They’re going to bring, on the diving side, some of the strongest, deepest competition we’ve seen in a dual meet setting all year long,” said diving coach Doug Shaffer. “I just want our kids to compete and rise to the level of competition.”
The Lady Tigers (2-2, 1-1 SEC) will bid farewell to senior Samantha Goates, with junior Amanda Kendall also looking to build off her recent success.
Kendall, fresh off winning four medals at the Pan American games, said she feels eager to get back to competition after a long break between dual meets.
“To see the team compete again is exciting,” Kendall said. “It should be an exciting meet.”
Geyer described the Aggie’s women’s team as “phenomenal” and said it is a top-five caliber team within the NCAA.
Geyer and Shaffer lauded Texas A&M’s program prestige and history, agreeing the Aggies will add more repute and rivalry to an already sterling SEC next year.
“Texas A&M is a strong program coming in,” Geyer said. “It gives us a taste of how strong our conference really will be moving forward.”
Shaffer said the strongest conference in the country is getting two teams stronger, referencing Missouri’s move to the SEC.
“Our rivalry with A&M and their level of competition is something we look forward to every year,” Shaffer said.
For junior swimmer Craig Hamilton, Saturday’s dual meet provides a chance to accomplish something he hasn’t seen in his three years at LSU.
“We need to show them what they are getting into coming into the SEC,” Hamilton said. “My first two years here we haven’t beaten them once, so this is our year.”
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Contact Chandler Rome at [email protected]