The LSU swimming and diving team shattered a school record in the women's 400 medley relay to start Friday's dual meet, but Georgia erased an early deficit en route to defeating the Tigers at the LSU Natatorium. The LSU women were downed by a score of 132-106, and the LSU men dropped a 138-99 decision.
 
For the Lady Tigers, it was their first dual meet loss of the season after winning their season opener at South Carolina last weekend. The LSU women had defeated four straight opponents Houston, Rice, New Orleans and South Carolina  dating back to last spring before Friday's loss.

"I knew coming into this meet we were going against one of the top programs in the country not just in the SEC," said head coach Adam Schmitt. "It was a great experience for our team to host them. I always challenge our athletes that this was a great opportunity to race against some of the best in the world. They did a really good job today."

A crowd of over 200 spectators saw LSU capture 10 even ts, including a sweep of the men's and women's 400 medley relay at the start. The Lady Tigers' relay of Monica McJunkin, Kannon Betzen, Katherine Noland and Katie Gilmore broke the school record in the event with a first-place time of 3:44.69.

The group overtook the old mark of 3:45.79 swam by Ali Petersen, Katie Burke, Candice Nethercott and Marquerite Atchley in 1999. The new clocking marks the fourth women's school relay record broken in the Schmitt coaching era. Noland and Gilmore have been a part of all four.

The two then combined to sweep the sprint free events with outstanding swims. Noland posted a time of 50.71 to edge Georgia in the 100 free. Gilmore touched the wall at 23.49 for first in the women's 50 free.

"They (Noland and Gilmore) are maturing as athletes," said Schmitt. "They are taking the team on their backs. They know what their goals are. They've got some high goals. By the performance today, I can say that some of those goals are very attainable."

Both Noland and Gilmore helped finish off the meet with a win in the 200 free relay (1:34.07) along with fellow junior Sabrina Messmer and freshman Jane Trepp. Junior Victoria Givens was credited with another win in the 200 breaststroke (2:18.74) while placing second in the 200 individual medley (2:04.71).

Sophomore Lauren Grandy contributed a third-place finish in the women's 200 free with a quality swim of 1:52.81. Freshman Brooke Barnett was LSU's highest finisher in the 500 free with fourth place (5:03.91). Senior Clare Schepens took fourth in the 1000 free (10:15.58), and junior Vanessa Duenas earned a runner-up finish in the 200 butterfly (2:04.17).

Georgia's Kelsey Ditto broke an LSU Natatorium record in the women's 1000 free posting a time of 9:49.91. The mark eclipsed Stephanie Smith's old time of 9:50.51 for LSU in 2002.
 
The LSU men were led by seniors Miko Malberg and Kevin Braud. Braud, the SEC Swimmer of the Week, won the 200 backstroke in a time of 1:50.08. Malberg paced a 1-3 Tiger finish in the 50 free with a first-place clocking of 20.44. Freshman Hannes Heyl finished third in the event (21.24).

Malberg was a part of both winning relays on the men?s side. LSU opened the meet with a two-second win in the 400 medley relay (3:22.20) thanks to Braud, Roy Chambers, Christoph Lubenau and Malberg. Malberg, Heyl, James Meyers and Lubenau won the 200 free in a mark of 1:22.47.

Heyl added a third-place finish as LSU?s highest scorer in the 100 free (45.96). Freshmen Luis Gonzalez and Clint Hallum delivered 2-3 finishes in the 1000 free with times of 9:21.35 and 9:25.96, respectively. Hallum also placed third in the 500 free (4:32.21).

Sophomore Nate Telep nearly pulled off a win in the 200 breaststroke. Telep finished second with a time of 2:06.15, just behind Bill Cregar?s mark of 2:06.05 from Georgia. Sophomore Sean LeNeave was the Tigers? highest scorer in the 200 IM with a time of 1:53.86.

In diving, senior Paige Brown recorded her first win of the season with first place in the women?s 3-meter. Brown won with a score of 282.76, which was 15 points better than that of second place. Brown was third in the 1-meter (246.52).

Sophomore Rachel Ware finished second in the 1-meter (252.45) while placing fourth in the 3-meter (226.95).

?I am happy with where we are,? said diving coach Doug Shaffer. ?We had Paige (Brown) doing a couple of new dives in competition. We have Rachel (Ware) returning from shoulder surgery. She is almost back into a full competition list. I am happy with that. We are making progress with the corrections we are working on.?

The LSU men?s divers recorded 2-3 finishes in both events led by junior Niko Dalman. Dalman, competing against Georgia All-American Chris Colwill, collected runner-up finishes for the second straight week. He recorded a marks of 300.23 and 314.10 in the 1-meter and 3-meter, respectively.

Junior Nathan Schreiber was third in the 3-meter (303.22), and freshman Michael Neubacher was third in the 1-meter (287.62).

LSU continues its only homestand of the season with a 3 p.m. dual meet against Delta State next Friday Oct. 26 at the LSU Natatorium. Admission is free.