BATON ROUGE — The LSU swimming and diving team concluded its preseason competition Friday, as Purple defeated Gold, 248-195, in the 17th-annual Purple and Gold Intrasquad at the LSU Natatorium.
“I was very satisfied with the racing and the way they competed against each other,” said head coach Adam Schmitt. “They showed pride for their teams and for LSU today.”
Purple jumped out to an early lead, winning four of the first five events, including impressive swims by freshmen Julius Gloeckner and Justin Corvin.
Gloeckner, a native of Freiburg, Germany, won the 1000 freestyle and 200 butterfly in his first collegiate competition since training began.
“Training has really helped me here,” said Gloeckner. “Over here, we work out with more weights and conditioning. It was a fun meet today. We don’t have this kind of team spirit in Germany.”
Corvin was also a double-winner on Friday, notching wins in the 200 and 500 free.
Sophomore Miko Malberg proved to be in midseason form with brilliant swims in the 50 and 100 free on the men’s side. Colleen Bertirotti placed first in both of those respective events on the women’s side.
Clare Schepens collected wins in the women’s 500 and 1000 free, and Katherine Noland won the women’s 200 free and 200 fly.
In diving, freshman Nathan Schreiber delivered a winning performance in his first collegiate competition. The San Antonio, Texas native, won the men’s 1-meter over reigning SEC Freshman Diver of the Year Niko Dalman and junior Andrew Keane.
Dalman followed up his second-place finish in the 1-meter with a win of his own in the men’s 3-meter.
“Those were definitely the two highlights today,” said diving coach Doug Shaffer. “Nathan did a remarkable job winning in his first collegiate meet. Niko’s performance in the 3-meter was excellent considering where we are in the season right now.”
Hali Saucier won the women’s 1-meter, and Paige Brown took first-place honors in the women’s 3-meter.
The season officially begins on Friday, Oct. 21 as top-ranked Auburn visits the LSU Natatorium for a 4 p.m. dual meet. Several festivities will highlight the meet, including Alumni Weekend. Admission is free to the public.