The LSU women’s swimming and diving team will travel to Houston, Texas, to compete in a quad meet Friday and Saturday against Houston, Rice and Tulane.
The meet will be the Lady Tigers’ final competition before the Southeastern Conference Championships begin Feb. 15 in Knoxville, Tenn.
“It’s that final tune-up for our women’s program before [the SEC Championships],” said LSU swimming coach Dave Geyer. “A lot of the girls are swimming their main events again just to get that final race experience before we head to best.”
Olympic hopeful junior Amanda Kendall led the Lady Tigers last Saturday, claiming first place in the 100-meter butterfly, 100-meter freestyle and 200-meter freestyle. Kendall will be looking for another strong performance as she prepares for the Olympic Trials in June.
Senior Samantha Goates and junior Sara Haley also produced solid performances for the Tigers, with Goates winning the 50-meter freestyle and Haley taking the 200-meter butterfly.
Geyer said he hopes the team will gain competitive experience in individual events and solidify the relay teams with this weekend’s competition.
“We’re really keeping our options open on relays,” Geyer said. “We’re trying to give as many people different spots on relays just so that we can try to get the best relay lineup possible before we go to game.”
Summing up the Lady Tigers’ approach this weekend, Geyer and Shaffer both said the most important thing isn’t wins or losses, but rather positive results against quality competition.
“Our sport is unique in the fact that dual-meet wins and losses aren’t too important for us,” Geyer said. “It’s performance and everything we do to prepare and get ready for conference