Ask any of the coaches and athletes who comprise this year’s LSU women’s swimming and diving team and they will tell you they are not solely satisfied with last year’s 17th-place finish at the NCAA Championships even though the squad achieved something that had not been done since 2001. With returning experience and a new season there are new goals, new dreams and higher expectations.
“I am excited about what we can do,” said head coach Adam Schmitt, who enters his fourth season. “I urged my coaches this year to not just be satisfied with what we did last year. It’s not good enough. We have to coach hard and get it done. All of the pieces are there to have a very successful season.”
LSU returns 18 letterwinners, three swimmers who earned multiple NCAA All-America honors in relays and one diver who garnered a pair of All-America finishes. They will be joined by several key additions to the roster, including five true freshmen and one transfer from Syracuse. All of the ingredients make for another exciting season as the Lady Tigers seek to move up the standings nationally and in the Southeastern Conference.
“A winning attitude is our theme this year,” said Schmitt. “We have had a championship mentality but now is the time to win. It is one thing to think about being a champion, but now is the time to apply what we learned to win.”
The Schedule
Once again, Schmitt has compiled one of the nation’s toughest dual-meet schedules. The Lady Tigers face three teams who finished in the top 10 at the 2007 NCAA Championships — Georgia, Florida and Texas A&M. LSU makes its first trip to South Carolina to open the season on Oct. 13 followed by its home opener against the Bulldogs on Oct. 19.
Those meets follow with competitions versus Delta State, Alabama and Vanderbilt. LSU looks to win its third straight against the Crimson Tide after defeating them last season in Baton Rouge. Three invitationals close the fall campaign, including the Art Adamson Invite in College Station, Texas, the Alabama Invite in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and the LSU Diving Invite in Baton Rouge.
The Lady Tiger swimmers ring in the New Year with a holiday meet against Notre Dame in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. The toughest portion of the schedule follows as the Lady Tigers travel to back-to-back meets at Florida State and Florida, Jan. 11-12, followed by the second-half home opener on Jan. 19 against Texas A&M.
A tri-meet at Houston and Rice prepares the team for the SEC Championships, Feb. 20-23, as LSU competes in Tuscaloosa for the third time during the year. Those swimmers seeking to solidify their postseason chances take part in the Last Chance Meet during the first weekend in March. The NCAA Championships close the season, March 20-22, in Columbus, Ohio.