BATON ROUGE — The LSU men’s swimming and diving team selected its 2000-01 team captains Friday with the announcement that Will Tanner and Erik Petursson will help lead this season’s Fighting Tigers.
“Both Will and Erik are great leaders,” said LSU head coach Jeff Cavana. “They are both very talented performers, and they know how to lead by example both in and out of pool.”
Petursson and Tanner are both members of the Southeastern Conference’s Academic Honor Roll as well as being championship calibur athletes in their respective events. Petursson, a diver from Calgary, Canada, possesses a 3.818 grade point average in international trade and finance, while Tanner, a freestyle relay specialist owns a 3.308 GPA in civil engineering.
“We have a lot of talented youngsters on this season’s team,” said Cavana. “I believe that Will and Erik will help them reach their potential in competition as well as in the classroom. They take school as serious as their swimming and diving.”
Petursson qualified for the NCAA Diving Championships in 1999 and has finished in the top ten at the SEC Championships in each of his three seasons as a Tiger. Tanner also qualified for the NCAA Championships in 1999, and last season he received the LSU Coaches Award which recognizes the most hardworking and dedicated perfomer on the team.
Petursson, Tanner, and the Fighting Tigers will open the 2000-01 season October 6 in Tuscaloosa, Ala., versus Alabama, Arkansas, and Auburn in the SEC Quad Meet.