BATON ROUGE — Despite strong performances from seniors Connor Farber and Niko Dalman and a pair of solid efforts from the relay squads, the 17th-ranked LSU swimming and diving men’s team was unable to upend No. 3 Florida, falling to the Gators, 166-131, Wednesday in the LSU Natatorium.
Farber led the way for the Tigers with a fantastic showing. The team co-captain captured first-place in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 45.38 seconds, just 18 one-hundredths of a second off his personal best, and registered second-place in the 100 butterfly. Furthermore, the senior played a pivotal role on the Tigers’ victorious 200 freestyle relay squad, posting a 20.29 split on the second leg.
“Connor really came into this season with the right mindset and focus, and I believe he’s poised for a big season,” LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. “I’m hoping his leadership as one of the team’s captains will trickle down to the rest of the athletes on the squad.”
Dalman got off to a nice start as well, taking a victory in the 1-meter dive and securing runner-up honors in the 3-meter springboard. His score of 346.72 in the 1-meter was less than two points away from his career high in the event.
LSU opened the meet in promising fashion in the 200 medley relay as the Tigers’ ?A’ team of Hannes Heyl, Roy Chambers, Christoph Lubenau and Sean LeNeave took second with a time of 1:30.60, less than half a second off the Gators’ winning time.
Freshman Ben Decker burst onto the scene in his first career collegiate meet, edging teammate Nate Telep in the 100 breaststroke with a mark of 58.63, while sophomore Hannes Heyl notched runner-up finishes in both the 100 and 200 backstroke races.
LSU wrapped up the meet on a high note, winning the final two events ? the 200 individual medley and the 200 freestyle relay. Julius Gloeckner, Clint Hallum and Telep swept the 200 IM with a 1-2-3 finish, respectively, and the 200 freestyle relay squad of Heyl, Farber, Lubenau and LeNeave emerged victorious with a time of 1:22.36.
“Before the meet began, the goal was to see what kind of team we had, where we are in the season and what we need to do better,” Schmitt said. “I think we saw a little bit of that today. It looks like we need to go back to work a little bit, but we also had some highlights pop out.
“Winning the last two events was great. We go out knowing that we competed well, the guys didn’t give up, and they were still engaged the whole time.”
In addition to Dalman’s exploits, freshman divers Brian Gemberling and Matt Vieke made their collegiate debuts. Gemberling took third-place in the 3-meter, and Vieke finished third in the 1-meter.
“I was happy with our performance today but particularly in the 1-meter,” diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “We came out and dove well. We executed well and did the things I was looking for. On the 3-meter, there are a little more odds and variables involved. We ran out of gas a little bit, and that’s what it came down to.”
The Lady Tigers kick off their season with a dual meet against the Gator women at 2 p.m. Thursday in the LSU Natatorium.