AUBURN, Ala. — The LSU swimming and diving team begins competing at the SEC Championships Wednesday morning at the James E. Martin Aquatics Center on the campus of Auburn University.
The Tigers enter the meet with a 6-2 overall record and a No. 19 national ranking. The Lady Tigers are 8-2 overall and are the 24th-ranked team in the nation.
“We’re really looking forward to this meet,” said LSU head coach Rick Meador. “This is the best swimming conference in the nation and we want to prove that we are among the best of the best.”
Wednesday’s events will include the men’s and women’s 200-yard freestyle relays, the men’s and women’s 200-yard medley relays, and the men’s 1-meter diving and women’s 3-meter diving. Preliminary heats for each event will begin at 10 a.m., with the finals to begin at 6:30 p.m.
The LSU divers are expected to shine at this weekend’s competition. Lady Tigers Ashley Culpepper (junior), Holly Winters (sophomore), Jamie Watkins (sophomore), and Gretchen Mury (senior) are all among the highest-rated divers in the conference.
On the men’s side of the diving events, freshman Kyle VanArsdale and juniors Corey Fox and Erik Peturssen have some of the highest scores in the SEC. Fox qualified for the finals in all three diving events last season at the SEC Championships.
Last year in Lexington, Kent., the LSU men finished fifth, while the women placed sixth. Auburn’s men and Georgia’s women are the defending champions. The competition will begin Wednesday and run through Saturday.