COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Competing in their first road dual since November, the LSU swimming and diving teams were defeated by Texas A&M on Saturday at the Student Rec Center Natatorium.
The fifth-ranked Aggie women completed a perfect dual-meet season with a 175-115 decision over the Lady Tigers. Meanwhile, the No. 25 LSU men were upended, 159-141, in a tightly contested meet throughout.
Texas A&M captured all four relays and won 23 of Saturday’s 32 events en route to the sweep. However, the Tigers hung tough on the men’s side and received much respect from the home standing Aggies, who were rested for the meet.
“We received a lot of respect from Texas A&M at this meet,” said head coach Adam Schmitt. “We beat ourselves by missing some touches on the wall. The bottom line was that it was a meet between two great teams, and we had our chances.”
LSU was once again led by juniors Kevin Braud and Miko Malberg, sophomore Julius Gloeckner and freshman Will Rivers.
Braud continued to show why he is one of the best backstroke swimmers in school history, and he proved it again on Saturday with a sweep of both events. The Destrehan, La., native posted times of 49.08 and 1:47.36 in the 100 and 200 back, respectively.
Malberg edged A&M’s Casey Strange in the 50 freestyle (20.19), and he completed his sweep by .52 seconds in the 100 free over All-American Francisco Picasso (45.06).
Rivers won the meet’s first individual event, the 1000 free, in a mark of 9:24.09. The freshman then held on to take first in the 500 free in a clocking of 4:31.44.
Gloeckner and sophomore Connor Farber continued their dominance in the 200 free by finishing 1-2 in times of 1:39.73 and 1:40.22. Gloeckner, the SEC Male Swimmer of the Week, also won the 200 individual medley with a two-second cushion (1:51.57).
Sophomore Christoph Lubenau guided the Tigers to a 2-3 finish in the 100 butterfly with a second-place time of 49.08. Farber was third (49.88).
Sophomore diver Nathan Schreiber posted a career-best score in the 1-meter springboard (321.45). Schreiber, who finished second in the event, was LSU’s highest scorer in the 3-meter as well with a second-place mark of 308.40.
On the women’s side, senior diver Hali Saucier extended her winning spree with a sweep of both boards. Saucier won the 1-meter with a score of 303.07 before taking top honors in the 3-meter (316.47). Freshman Rachel Ware was runner-up in both in marks of 275.00 (1-meter) and 285.30 (3-meter).
Freshman Signe Larson finished second out of 10 competitors in the 100 breaststroke (1:04.01), and she was also second in the 200 breaststroke (2:19.20). Senior Colleen Bertirotti clocked LSU’s highest finish in the 50 free by taking fourth (23.80).
Sophomore Katherine Noland finished just shy of a season-fast time in the 100 free with a second-place mark of 50.74. Noland was third in the 100 fly (56.71).
Despite the defeat, Schmitt said the squad achieved what it set out to do in the dual-meet season. The men finish its pre-championship schedule with perhaps its best season since 2000-01. Five of LSU’s six dual meets came against ranked opponents, including four of those who were ranked in the Top 10 highlighted by Stanford and Auburn.
The Tigers recorded their first victory over a ranked opponent since 2001-02, won the Art Adamson Invitational in November and posted several times ranked among the best in the nation. All of the ingredients add up to what could possibly be the program’s best shot at a high finish at the SEC Championships.
“Early on we swam the best in the country for a reason,” said Schmitt. “The team has already put this loss behind them because they know we have gained some momentum and confidence, especially coming off the win against Florida State. We will rest up and be ready for SECs in three weeks.”
The SEC Diving Championships take place Feb. 2-4 in Lexington, Ky. The following week the SEC Swimming Championships will be held at the same venue, Feb. 7-10.
Before the LSU women head to the championships, they play host to a quad meet next weekend against Houston, Rice and New Orleans. The two-day event gets underway at 6 p.m. Friday and concludes at 11 a.m. Saturday. Admission to the LSU Natatorium is free.