The LSU swimming and diving teams will host Texas A&M in their final home meet of the season at 11 a.m. Saturday.
The women’s team (9-0, 2-0 Southeastern Conference) enters the meet ranked No. 19 in the College Swimming Coaches Association of America poll after a 164-136 victory over then-No. 19 Missouri. It will face another tough matchup in the No. 6 Aggies.
“For A&M, with their women’s team being a top five program in the country, it is going to be a battle,” swimming coach Dave Geyer said. “To be what we want to be at the end of the season, these are the type of teams we need to race with.”
For nine players on the women’s team it will be their final meet in the LSU Natatorium. However, the team plans to treat the meet with the same intensity they have had all year.
“We are preparing like any other competition,” diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “We go through our routines throughout the week, it is part of the total season’s plan.”
The LSU women’s team hope to get back where they left off against Missouri when they closed the meet with four straight wins at the end of the meet.
Junior swimmer Kara Kopcso, who started LSU’s strong closing with a win in the 100-yard fly (54.17), won the SEC Swimmer of the Week for her performance in the Missouri meet.
Senior diver Cassie Weil, who finished first in LSU’s sweep of the three meter dive against Missouri, said she doesn’t plan to get too sentimental in her final home meet.
“I am just treating it like every other meet,” Weil said. “It is going to be more exciting because family will be here.”
The men’s team (1-5, 0-2 SEC) looks to build off of a narrow 155.5-141.5 loss to then-No. 10 Missouri.
For the meet against the Aggies, the LSU men’s team is hoping to get more points from the second and third swimmers in their events.
“Against Missouri, there were some opportunities on the men’s side that we could have done better on that,” Geyer said. But at the same time, I think we outswam them in the meet as a whole.”
Freshman Thomas Smith won SEC Freshman of the Week after setting a pool record in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:43.92.
“He was stellar in the 200 backstroke and as he develops, I think you are going to see some further improvement in his 100 back and his 200 IM and some further events as well,” Geyer said.
Although the Tigers lost to Missouri, they closed out strong with a win in the 400-yard free relay.
The men will have another close meet against Texas A&M, Geyer said.
“On the men’s side, these have always been great dual meets,” he said. “ We match up really well against them. It will be just getting your hand on the wall first and how bad you want to win.”
While the Tigers are focusing on the the season as whole, this meet will be special for the seniors Shaffer said.
“It represents their last meet in their home pool and the culmination of being an LSU swimming and diving Tiger,” Shaffer said. “So, it is special looking to that. But aside from that, it is a competition against a strong SEC school with great coaches and great athletes.”