The LSU Swimming and Diving Team welcomed the Missouri Tigers to the Natatorium for the first home meet of 2020. In a day full of pool records and top-times, the LSU women’s team defeated Mizzou by a final score of 151-149. On the men’s side, Mizzou came out on top by a final score of 166-133.
LSU will be back in action on Saturday as they hit the road for a dual meet against Delta State starting at 10 a.m. CT. They will be back at home next weekend as they will host Florida State on Friday, January 17 at 5 p.m. CT and Texas A&M on Saturday, January 18 at 11 a.m. CT.
IN THE POOL
For the LSU swimming women, Niamh Robinson once again swept the breaststroke events. The current 200-Yard Breast school record holder won the same event with a time of 2:10.42. She touched the wall in 1:01.35 in the 100-Yard to take the gold. Summer Stanfield swam the third fastest time in school history in the 500-Yard Free with a time of 4:48.21 to earn the victory. In the 200-Yard Back, Cassie Kalisz set a pool record with a time of 1:55.43 to claim the victory. Katarina Milutinovich, Nicole Rozier, and Helen Grossman also won races during the meet for the Tigers. Milutinovich won the 200-Yard Free with a time of 1:47.66, Rozier won the 200-Yard Fly with a time of 1:58.68, and Grossman won the 100-Yard Fly with a time of 53.94. Also for the women, Brittany Thompson came in second place in the 400-Yard IM with a time of 4:18.27, which is good for the tenth best time in school history.
On the men’s side, Karl Luht won both backstroke events while also setting pool records in both. He broke his own record in the 100-Yard with a time of 46.09 and set a new record in the 200-Yard with a time of 1:42.81. Brooks Curry dominated both the 100 and 200-Yard Free as the freshman won the 100-Yard with a time of 43.96 and the 200-Yard with a time of 1:36.93. Luca Pfyffer swept the breaststroke events, winning the 100-Yard with a time of 54.67 and the 200-Yard with a time of 1:58.27. Matt Klotz touched the wall in 20.22 to win the 50-Yard Free.
“Today was the first dual meet since we raced at our mid-season meet at the SMU Invitational,” said LSU swimming coach Dave Geyer. “We are coming out of a really hard Christmas training period and I thought there was a chance we would come out a little rusty but we didn’t. We came out with all cylinders firing, starting getting some wins and fast times and gained a lot of momentum.”
ON THE BOARDS
The morning on the boards began with Aimee Wilson winning the women’s one-meter for the third time this season with a score of 280.13. Anne Tuxen and Hayley Montague also finished on the podium. Tuxen came in second with a score of 268.80 and Montague claimed the bronze with a score of 265.35. On three-meter, Tuxen claimed the top spot for the third time this season, this time after a score of 315.60. Montague finished in fourth place with a score of 232.73.
For the men, Dakota Hurbis and Manny Vazquez Bas finished in second and third place on three-meter with scores of 325.95 and 323.55. On one-meter, Hurbis and Vazquez Bas finished in third and fourth place with scores of 291.53 and 283.43.
“We worked hard coming into this competition so there were some things that really came through for us that were positive and the bottom fell out in some aspects as well,” said LSU head diving coach Doug Shaffer. “Physically we are where we need to be but I told the team after our performances today that it is our mental game moving forward that has to be spot on and that’s the aspect that we will focus on as we move forward in our championship season.”
TOP TIGERS
Junior Sarah Thompson (Collierville, Tenn.), sophomore Jack Dubois (Alpharetta, Ga.) and freshman Leonardo Garcia Varela (Cali, Colombia) all nabbed two victories on the day to lead the visiting Tigers.
Thompson swept the women’s 50 and 100 free at LSU, with times of 22.58 in the 50 and 49. 73 in the 100. The wins were her team-leading fifth and sixth of the 2019-20 campaign.
In the diving well, Garcia Varela won both springboard competitions. He tallied 368.85 points to win the 3-meter title, and 309.9 points to place first on 1-meter.
Also a double winner was Dubois, who won the 1650 free in 15:27.21 and the 500 free with a swim of 4:29.34.
Additionally, five other Tigers took home wins on Thursday, seniors Haley Hynes (Lee’s Summit, Mo.) and Micah Slaton (Austin, Texas), juniors Carter Grimes and Amanda Smith (Dry Ridge, Ky.) and sophomore Danny Kovac (Fort Collins, Colo.). Hynes won the women’s 100 back (54.22), Slaton the men’s 200 fly (1:46.96), Grimes the men’s 400 IM (3:52.57), Smith the women’s 400 IM (4:13.72) with a personal-best time, and Kovac broke the LSU natatorium school record and took top honors in the men’s 100 fly (46.79).
Mizzou also took first in three of four relays during the meet. The men’s and women’s 200 medley relays both placed first with pool record times of 1:26.62 and 1:37.29, respectively, while the women’s 200 free relay also touched first with a time of 1:29.82.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou Head Coach Andrew Grevers
“In diving, the women were certainly up against some fantastic divers, and our men did well, winning both boards. Having not competed in a month and a half the team, came out a little flat before the first break. They responded extremely well starting with the 100 free, swimming well and racing their hearts out. The women’s meet came down to the last relay, we needed to go one-two, and we just missed doing so, but I’m extremely proud of everyone’s effort and support for one another. I was really happy LSU decided to join us in suiting up, and that led to a really exciting meet and some pool records today by both teams.”
— The above press release was posted by Swimming World in conjunction with LSU Swimming and Missouri Swimming. For press releases and advertising inquiries please contact Advertising@SwimmingWorld.com.
