BATON ROUGE — Facing its fourth ranked opponent in as many meets, the LSU swimming and diving team welcomes the fourth and seventh ranked Florida Gators to the LSU Natatorium this Thursday at noon.
The meet follows a 16-event order, beginning with the 200 medley relay and concluding with the 200 freestyle relay. It is the first home dual for the Tigers since their season opener against perennial power Auburn on Oct. 21.
“It is a great opportunity to again swim one of the best programs in the country,” said head coach Adam Schmitt. “We can learn a lot from them — how to race, who we are competing against at the SEC Championships and where we need to go as a program.”
LSU’s women’s team enters the meet after knocking off Alabama in Tuscaloosa last weekend. The Lady Tigers used a 60-53 advantage to defeat the Crimson Tide for the first time since 1999. Three freshmen swimmers won events, including Berit Aljand, Katherine Noland and Sarah Bedell, while the squad’s 400 freestyle relay wrapped up the meet with a victory.
The men’s team seeks its first dual win of the season after suffering losses to Auburn, Florida State, Alabama and Kentucky — all four of which were ranked in the Top 20.
“I am really pleased with the season we have had and who we are swimming,” added Schmitt. “We have definitely been going up against top notch programs. All we can do is learn from that and strive to be that.”
Both Noland and Julius Gloeckner recorded team-fast times against Alabama and Kentucky. Gloeckner entered the school’s all-time top 10 with a clocking of 1:51.67 in the 200 IM. Noland swam a time of 1:51.77 in her 200 free victory.
Diver Hali Saucier enjoyed a stellar Georgia Invitational, qualifying for finals in all three events over the weekend. Saucier placed third out of 20 divers in the platform final on Sunday.
Florida comes into the meet fresh off a sweep of No. 12/16 Penn State in Gainesville on Tuesday. The Gators are a combined 12-3 on the season. In the latest collegeswimming.com poll, the women are ranked fourth and the men come in No. 7.
Following Thursday’s dual, the LSU squad splits for the weekend for a pair of road dual meets. The women travel to face Houston and Rice for a two-day meet beginning Friday at 4 p.m. The men face off against Delta State on Saturday at 2 p.m.