After competing against some of the top teams in the country during the fall semester, the LSU swimming and diving teams are set for the more important spring season.
The women finished the fall season 3-3 while the men ended 2-3. Swimming and Diving head coach Jeff Cavana admits the fall meet records were not great, but he is excited about the teams performances at the Nike Cup Invitational where LSU took fifth out of 10 teams without the divers, who competed elsewhere that weekend.
“We did better than we’ve ever done at the Nike Cup,” Cavana said. “It was a real highlight for us.”
Since the beginning of the fall, both teams have shown improvement.
There were a number of outstanding performances during the Nike Cup including Junior All-American Stephanie Smith’s victory in the 1,650-yard freestyle. Smith took the title with a school record-breaking performance.
Also, sophomore diver Jessica Wantz earned Southeastern Conference diver of the week after winning the three-meter competition, Jan. 3-5, at the University of Georgia Diving Invitational in Athens, Ga.
“Meet wise we didn’t do so well because we went up against some steep competition,” Cavana said, referring to the teams mediocre record.
LSU took on the women of No. 2 Florida , No. 12 Tennessee and No. 17 Alabama. The LSU men took on No. 6 Florida, No. 12 Tennessee, and No. 18 Alabama.
The Tigers will challenge a top 25 team again this weekend when they travel to Tallahassee, Fla., to meet the No. 21 ranked Florida State men and No. 25 ranked women.
The Tigers hope to rebound from a loss last weekend against Texas A&M. However, the LSU women did walk away from the Texas A&M Student Recreational Center Natatoriaum with a win against Rice.
Smith came home with two more victories after finishing the 1,000-yard freestyle in a time of 10:01.16 and the 500-yard freestyle in 4:53.23.
Senior Cissy Schepens took home victories in the 100-yard and 200-yard breaststrokes.
Junior Laura Jo Leininger took the 100-yard butterfly victory for the Tigers after posting a time of 56.30.
For the men, All-American Evan Martinec took wins in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 49.33 and the 100-yard butterfly in 49.61.
Sophomore Jan Minartz won the 200-yard individual medley in 1:57.81.
The LSU diving team swept the competition. Kyle VanArsdall won both the men’s one and three-meter events with scores of 295.35 and 329.54 respectively, while All-American Barb Gorst took the women’s one-meter with a score of 263.40.
Wantz placed second behind Gorst in the one-meter after scoring 263.40 but took the three-meter victory with 304.35.
The men are 3-4, and the women are 6-4 on the year.