With losing records on their hands, the LSU swimming and diving teams will attempt to speed up their times this weekend at the Nike Cup Invitational. The competition will host teams from 11 campuses including SEC schools Tennessee, Michigan, North Carolina and Kentucky. It began Thursday and will continue until Nov. 23 in Chapel Hill, N.C.
“This is always a very big meet in our season and we look forward to competing against so many good teams,” said LSU swimming and diving head coach Jeff Cavana.
The men’s team enters the meet 1-3 and 0-3 in the Southeastern Conference, while the women are 2-3 and 1-3 in the conference. Despite the losing record, Cavana remains positive and focused on taking the program to the next level.
Although the Tigers are having difficulty taking overall victories, a number of swimmers have shinned in the pool.
For the men, All-American Evan Martinec and Jan Minartz have been constant stand-outs. Minartz will try to continue his streak of three consecutive titles in the 500-yard freestyle against a tough field.
The women continue to show improvement, despite numerous injuries. After nearly beating the ten time SEC champions University of Tennessee team, they swam past Arkansas to take their first conference win.
Stephanie Smith, a double title winner against Tennessee, and Cissy Schepens remain consistent title winners for the Tigers, who are hoping to continue their success this weekend in North Carolina.
The diving team will compete at the Minnesota Diving Invitational Nov. 22 through 24 at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, Minn.
“This is a good, competitive opportunity for our team to go to a meet like this,” said LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer.
Shaffer said he will look for his three divers, Kyle VanArsdall, Barb Gorst, and Jessica Wantz to continue to improve.
Both VanArsdall and Wantz have taken multiple titles this season. VanArsdall has titles in both the three and one meter competitions.