The LSU swimming and diving teams return to action Saturday at noon when they host Texas A&M in the LSU Natatorium. The meet is LSU’s first dual meet at home since the Lady Tigers defeated Tulane on Oct. 30 and the last home meet of the season involving both the men’s and women’s squads. The teams will celebrate Senior Day prior to the meet. Seven seniors from both squads will be honored: Leigh Ann King, Lauren Grandy, Todd Burford, Andrew Reynolds, Nate Telep, Luc Rykosky and Sean LeNeave. Junior James Meyers said the Tigers have resumed their normal training schedule since returning from their trip to Florida two weeks ago. Both LSU squads beat Florida Atlantic but lost to Florida, whose men’s squad is currently ranked No. 6 and women’s squad is ranked No. 7. The Tigers moved up one spot to No. 17 in the rankings despite the loss, while the Lady Tigers dropped three spots to No. 24. Seven men’s teams and six women’s teams in the Southeastern Conference are nationally ranked this week with Auburn at No. 5 in the men’s poll and Georgia No. 1 in the women’s poll. The Aggie women’s last meet was a sweep of Auburn and Southern Methodist on Jan. 9. Senior Julia Wilkinson, a finalist in the 2008 Olympics, led the team with two wins. The men also faced Auburn, but lost, 136-159, despite a breakout performance by true freshman Omar Enriquez, who just missed breaking two records. ‘When we recruited Omar, we thought he was going to be this way, but you never know until they get here how they’re going to fit into your program,’ Texas A&M coach Jay Holmes said in a news release. ‘I never have to worry about his effort level. He doesn’t try to save for the next one, it’s pretty much all out … He loves to race. That’s the great part of Omar.’ LeNeave said it should be a good meet against A&M because the level of competition is fairly equal. ‘They’re about the same as us,’ LeNeave said. ‘They’ve always been a big rival for us because we’re so close. They have some really good guys. We swim against them at NCAAs, and they have really good relays. They come to swim.’ LeNeave said it’s good preparation to swim against good teams leading into SEC and NCAA championships. ‘It’s good practice to be racing against the better athletes,’ LeNeave said. ‘Once we get to the conference, it’s going to be top-tier teams. Most of the teams in the SEC are top 10.’ Following the A&M meet, the LSU men’s and women’s squads will split up Jan. 29 for their last weekend of competition before the SEC Championship meet. The women will go to Texas to face Houston and Rice, while the men have a two-day meet against New Orleans. —- Contact Katherine Terrell at [email protected]