LEXINGTON, Ky. — The LSU swimming and diving team rewrote the school’s record books last weekend at the SEC Championships, shattering 10 LSU records at the four-day meet.
“It was an unbelievable performance,” LSU head coach Rick Meador said. “Ten school records at one meet for a school at our level is a tremendous accomplishment. I can’t say enough about our young men and women. They were terrific.”
Freshman Rodrigo Castro set two individual records and was also a member of the record-setting men’s 800 freestyle relay team. Individually, Castro finished the men’s 500 freestyle in 4:25.23, breaking the old mark of 4:26.68 set last season by Moran Sommerfeld. Castro also established an LSU record in the men’s 200 freestyle with a time of 1:36.46. The old mark of 1:37.26 had stood since 1988.
The men’s 800 freestyle relay team (Castro, Sommerfeld, Mattias Ohlin and Will Tanner) set a school record with a time of 6:31.75. The old mark of 6:33.15 had also stood since 1988.
Ohlin also set two individual records. His time of 47.28 in the men’s 100 butterfly topped the old LSU mark of 47.34 set in 1991, while his time of 1:45.47 in the men’s 200 backstroke shattered the old mark of 1:46.42, which had stood since 1993.
In addition to being a member of the men’s 800 freestyle relay team, Ohlin also swam on the record-setting men’s 400 medley relay team (Ohlin, Neal Satterly, Steve Gluck and Ken Kuhn). That foursome finished in 3:14.32, breaking the old LSU mark of 3:14.86 set last season.
Candice Nethercott and Ali Petersen each broke an individual record and were members of the record-setting women’s 400 medley relay team. Nethercott swam the women’s 100 butterfly in 55.22 seconds, breaking the old mark of 55.28 set in 1986. Petersen finished the women’s 200 backstroke in 1:59.80, edging the old standard of 1:59.85 set in 1996.
The 400 medley relay team (Nethercott, Petersen, Katie Burke and Marguerite Atchley) also set an LSU record, finishing the event with a time of 3:45.79. The old mark of 3:$5.98 had stood since 1997.
One diving record was broken, when Ashley Culpepper earned a score of 617.10 in the women’s 10-meter platform diving competition. The old mark of 588.80 had stood since 1994.