BATON ROUGE — In just three years as head swimming coach, Jeff Cavana has guided both men’s and women’s teams to four top-20 NCAA finishes. The fourth year of his campaign will look to build on those results as the swimming team begins its 27th season Thursday at 4 p.m. against Georgia in Athens.
This scheduled meet is the earliest start to the fall season in the 26-year history of the program and will feature 22 events and include a crescendo medley relay. Diving competition will not be held.
“The format to the meet will feature long-course meters due to such an early start to the season,” said Cavana. “We usually do not start the season until the middle of October.”
LSU is 3-3 in season opening meets in the Jeff Cavana era. The team is no stranger to starting the season against opponents ranked in the top five. Last year, both teams fell to fifth-ranked Florida in Gainesville.
The women’s team is returning 16 letterwinners from a squad that finished seventh at the SEC Championships and 32nd at NCAA’s last spring. Senior Stephanie Smith, arguably the best freestyle swimmer in school history, will look to add to her achievements in 2003-04, a list that has seen two All-America honors in as many seasons and three school records. Last year, the Metairie, La. native shattered two of her own school records in both the 1000-yard freestyle (9:50.51) and 1650-yard freestyle (16:21.41). Both times registered in the top-30 nationally. She also holds the school record in the 500-freestyle with a time of 4:47.75, a mark she set last November at the prestigious Nike Cup Invitational.
On the diving side, Junior Jessica Wantz will look to lead a young group of freshmen into the fall. Wantz participated at the NCAA Championships for the first time in her career last spring. The Houston, Texas native did not disappoint finishing fourth in the three-meter diving competition with a career-high score of 532.45. The efforts were good enough to earn All-America honors.
The men’s team will look to build on an 18th place finish at the NCAA Championships in 2003. With experienced lettermen Evan Martinec, Matthew Rucker and Chris Stanczyk back, the Tigers will have a formidable group to push for a top-10 finish nationally in 2003-04. Rucker, a native of River Ridge, La., posted the top time in the 100-yard breaststroke last season with a mark of 55.10. Martinec and Rucker teamed with two other former Tigers last year to break school records in the 200 and 400-yard medley relays.
Georgia will open the season with high expectations. The women enter Friday’s meet having lost only four letterwinners from a squad that finished national runners-up in 2003. On the men’s side, the Bulldogs return an experienced group that finished in the top-15 nationally and third at the SEC Championships for the second consecutive year.
“They are very good,” said head coach Jeff Cavana. “We basically want to go in there and compete as well as we can, being this early on in the year.”
Following the Georgia meet, LSU will bus to Clemson, S.C. There they will have another dual-meet at 1 p.m. on Friday afternoon. That meet will be the first chance for the divers to compete this fall season.