The LSU swimming and diving teams opened up competition against Kentucky and Virginia Tech with six wins Friday afternoon at the Wildcats’ Lancaster Aquatic Center.
The divers competed on both springboard events to get things started. Senior Cassie Weil led the way for the Lady Tigers with a victory on three-meter, her eighth win of the season. Weil followed later in the afternoon by finishing fourth on one-meter. Fellow senior Allie Alter had a strong showing on one-meter by finishing second.
“All of the women performed really well on both boards today. Cassie and Alex were both excellent,” LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “For whatever reason, the men struggled but that’s the nature of it. We did some good things but not as a total list. We still have another competitive experience with platform tomorrow where we’ll go out and compete.”
In the swimming individual events, Danielle Stirrat opened things up by finishing third in the 200 back with a time of 1:59.76. Tennyson Henry also finished in fifth place for LSU with a time of 2:02.74.
Freshman Thomas Smith, the school record holder in the 200 back, finished first in the event to get things started off for the men.
“On the men’s side, we knew we would be starting off in a big hole with our choice in entries,” LSU swimming coach Dave Geyer said. “I liked the team’s resolve once we did get racing. Thomas (Smith) and Alex (Linge) gave us some great momentum, and then we held on for some solid swims afterward.”
LSU swept the 100 free events with victories by Leah Troskot (50.34) and Alex Linge (44.63). Megan Cox also had a strong showing with a second place finish (50.90).
Colleen O’Neil touched the wall second in the 200 breast with a time of 2:15.67. Taryn MacKenzie followed in fourth place for LSU. Garrett House led the way in the event by finishing third with a time of 2:02.57.
To close out the individual events, Kara Kopcso won the 200 fly in 1:47.12. Sophie Weber also touched the wall third with a time of 2:01.89.
Freshmen Alarii Levreault-Lopez and Harrison Jones finished with a strong showing in the 200 fly by finishing second and fourth respectively.
In the lone relay event of the day, the women’s team of Troskot, Haylee Knight, Cox and Stirrat took the win in the 400 free with a time of 3:21.74. The men’s team of Linge, Logan Rysemus, Will Arthur and Jake Markham finished second in 3:01.41.
“The women had some great swims today and some key finishes after first place to build a lead into tomorrow. Our approach is to keep that same intensity tomorrow for a long day of racing,” Geyer added.
The team returns to action Saturday for a full day of competition. The first swimming event begins at 8 a.m. CT. The divers begin competition on platform at 11 a.m. CT.
