BATON ROUGE — Sophomore Nathan Schreiber swept both diving events and freshman Will Rivers won the 1000 freestyle Thursday as the LSU swimming and diving team was defeated by fifth-ranked Florida, 132-103, at the LSU Natatorium.
The Gators won seven of the 13 events, including the 400 freestyle and 400 medley relays, but the Tigers contended in every race. Florida remained unbeaten in dual-meet competition.
“If you look at our lineup, they have us on depth,” said head coach Adam Schmitt. “But if you look at every event, we were in (contention). We were either winning it or right there, so that’s telling me that we can compete at the top level. As we build the program, we will get that depth.”
Schreiber knocked off Gator All-American Jonathan Wilcox in both the 1-meter and 3-meter to earn his first individual wins on the season. The sophomore dove a tally of 289.27 in the 1-meter, which was nearly 10 points better than that of Wilcox.
Schreiber followed that performance up with a score of 319.20 in the 3-meter. Wilcox finished second (316.64), and LSU’s Andrew Keane took third (285.68). Two-time All-American Niko Dalman was scratched from the competition because of a previous injury.
“I didn’t look at it that I was going against Florida,” said Schreiber. “I looked at it like I was diving in practice.”
Schreiber also said he feels more confident at this point in the season as compared to his early freshman year.
“I feel like I am a lot more confident than last year,” said the 2005-06 SEC Freshman Diver of the Year. “Last year, I was coming from a high school club into a college setting where the SEC was a lot tougher. This year, my skills are where they need to be. (Diving coach) Doug (Shaffer) has got me on the right track for getting where I want to be for conference.”
Rivers, competing in only the third official meet of his career, wasted little time in entering the school’s all-time 1000 free top 10. The freshman recorded the sixth-fastest mark in LSU history with a winning time of 9:24.28.
“He’s constantly improving his times every week,” said Schmitt. “If he’s on this pace, we are going to do really well this year. He’s got to be excited about swimming t his well. He had a very good strategic race.”
Rivers was also the Tigers’ best finisher in the 500 free, earning a fourth-place finish (4:40.35).
“After winning the 1000, he went out and swam his 500 as fast,” said Schmitt. “He’s a freshman learning how to swim and how to use his talents to better himself.”
Junior Miko Malberg, despite nursing a sore shoulder, won the 50 free for the second consecutive meet. After defeating top-ranked Auburn on Oct. 6, Malberg touched the wall at 21.10 to defeat the 2005-06 SEC Freshman Swimmer of the Year and former Olympian, Bradley Ally.
Sophomore Connor Farber nearly gave the Tigers a sweep in the sprint freestyle events. Farber took second in the 100 free with a time of 47.18, .01 seconds behind the Gators’ Ron Ballatore.
Team co-captain Kevin Braud continued his winning streak in backstroke events with a first-place swim in the 200 back. Braud, who was victorious at Auburn, won with a two-second cushion (1:51.19).
Sophomore Julius Gloeckner, named LSU Athlete of the Week for his performance against Auburn, recorded a second-place finish in the 200 butterfly (1:51.99). He was also the Tigers’ highest finisher in the 200 individual medley with a third-place mark of 1:52.31.
The LSU men continue a three-meet homestand against Delta State on Saturday, Oct. 28 at 2 p.m. Admission is free.