Alabama will host the LSU swimming and diving team today at 3:00 p.m. at the Alabama Aquatic Center.
This is the first meet of the year for the Crimson Tide and their new coach Erik McIlquam.
LSU looks for its first win of the season after losing to Georgia and Clemson in their first two meets.
Alabama, whose men’s team finished No. 12 last year at the NCAA Championships, has lost several key athletes because of the departure of former head coach Don Wagner, said LSU voluntary swim coach Jeff Maynor.
Not listed on this year’s roster are Stefan Gherghel and Anne Poleska.
Gherghel was the first Alabama swimmer to win two individual NCAA Championships back-to-back, while Poleska earned Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Year honors. Poleska also won the 2002 SEC Championship in the 100 and 200-yard breaststroke events.
Returning for the Crimson Tide are Franck Southon and Ann Ross.
A Paris native, Southon holds the second fastest time in Alabama history in the 200-yard backstroke with a time of 1:47.18. He is also listed as one of the Tide’s best swimmers in the 400-yard individual medley, 500 and 1,000-yard freestyles.
Ross is ranked No. 7 in Alabama history in the 100-yard backstroke. Last year she posted a career-best time of 56.68 against LSU.
The Tide have two All-American divers returning this season, Stewart Smith and Lane Bassham.
Smith, who won SEC Freshman Diver of the Year honors, finished No. 5 at the NCAA championships in 2002 in the 1-meter event.
Bassham was a member of the 2002 National Diving team. She also won the 2002 SEC Championship in the 3-meter and finished No. 6 at NCAA’s in the 1-meter.
Maynor said there is a huge rivalry between the Tigers and the Crimson Tide.
“Alabama usually swims really well against LSU and LSU usually swims well against Alabama,” he said.
LSU coach Jeff Cavana said the Tigers have stepped up the intensity of their practices in the last three weeks since the Clemson meet.
“We have added a little more training and yardage to our workouts,” Cavana said. “We are going to have to pick it up and have the best meet of the year, basically, in order to beat them because they will be ready for us.”
In the season opener, Stephanie Smith and Margot Gathings both won events for the Tigers, along with Donna Leslie.
Smith won the 800-meter freestyle event with a time of 9:04.26, while Gathings took the 300-meter butterfly in 3:53.23. Leslie swam the 100-meter freestyle in a time of 1:01.26 to win the event.
For the men, Chris Stanczyk, Jan Minartz, Ryan Ashby and Justin Boyes will try to win the 800-meter freestyle relay again. They took the event against the Bulldogs in a time of 8:12.11.
Freshman diver Hali Saucier hopes to repeat her performance from the Clemson meet as she brought home the 1-meter victory. Jessica Wantz took the 3-meter win for the Tigers in the season opener.
The Tigers will travel to Cleveland, Miss. Saturday for a meet against Delta State and Southwest Missouri State.