AUBURN, Ala. — After several weeks of preparation and fine-tuning, the LSU swimming and diving teams are ready to face off in one of the most competitive conference meets in the country, the 2009 SEC Championships, which begin Wednesday at noon (CST) in Auburn’s James E. Martin Aquatics Center.
The 18th-ranked men’s team (7-1, 2-1 SEC) enters postseason competition after completing an excellent regular season in which it reeled off seven consecutive dual-meet victories and reached the seven-win plateau for the first time since 1998-99. The Tigers are one of six SEC squads ranked in the latest College Swim Coaches Association of America poll and will battle top-25 foes Auburn, Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Kentucky as well as Alabama and South Carolina.
The Lady Tigers (7-3-1, 1-2-1 SEC) won seven of their last eight dual meets to finish with their fourth straight winning season and will shoot for a top-five finish at the conference meet.
In addition, quite a few athletes from both teams will look to qualify for the NCAA Championships in March.
“This is the best part of the season for me,” LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. “We’ve gotten them ready to this point, and now, it’s about their goals and their ideas of what they want to do. We’re going to let them dive in and go fast, and we’re shooting for fast times, school records, top-10 all-time school marks and getting as many people to NCAA’s as possible.”
With solid depth throughout the roster, the Tigers are poised to have their best showing at the SEC’s in years, and several athletes like seniors Niko Dalman and Christoph Lubenau have the potential to make a run at an SEC title.
Dalman, the school’s record-holder in both springboard diving events, is one of the favorites in the one-meter as he holds the second-highest score in the SEC this season (387.75). The Auburn, Wash., native is also ranked in the conference’s top-six in the three-meter and the platform.
“Niko has been training really well,” LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “He’s competing at a higher level than he ever has, so I have nothing but optimism for his performance at SEC’s, and he’s demonstrated that he’s got the ability to contend for a championship.”
Lubenau, a two-time NCAA All-American last season, figures to turn it up a notch after tapering for the postseason and could contend for the 100-yard butterfly championship if he swims at last year’s school record-setting pace. A product of Leipzig, Germany, Lubenau placed fourth in the 100 fly at the 2008 SEC Championships, and his school-record time of 46.24 seconds is faster than any mark recorded in the conference this season.
Germans Julius Gloeckner and Hannes Heyl should make significant impacts with their tremendous versatility. Gloeckner, a three-time NCAA All-American, leads the team in three events ? the 500 freestyle, the 200 butterfly and the 200 individual medley ? and ranks in the SEC’s top-16 in both the 200 IM and 200 breaststroke. Heyl, a two-time All-American, excels in three separate disciplines and has the upside to tally points for the Tigers in backstroke, butterfly and freestyle events. Both will also play important roles in relay races.
Freshman sensation Ben Decker holds the fastest 200-breaststroke time (1:59.08) among conference newcomers and the sixth-fastest overall in the SEC and has the potential to place in the top-16 in both breast races. Moreover, talented sophomores Luis Gonzalez and Clint Hallum will impact the distance freestyle and individual medleys.
Senior Brandon Selts should contribute in the freestyle sprints, and fellow seniors Connor Farber and Roy Chambers, junior Sean LeNeave and sophomore James Meyers will also provide a lift in a number of events.
On the women’s side, seniors Katherine Noland and Vanessa Duenas, sophomore Jane Trepp and the backstroke trio of Monica McJunkin, Samantha Goates and Morgan McGee will lead the charge. Noland, the school record-holder in the 100 free and 100 fly, ranks in the conference’s top-10 in both events and will be a major factor in relay competition.
Duenas has proven to be one of the Lady Tigers’ best all-around performers this season and will boost the team’s chances of scoring in the 200 butterfly and both individual medley races. Trepp, who owns LSU’s fastest all-time mark in the 100 breast, is another threat to score in multiple events and also figures to impact butterfly, freestyle and relay events.
One of the women’s strongest disciplines in terms of depth is the backstroke where McJunkin, Goates and McGee all have the potential to register points. McJunkin and Goates hold program records in the 100 and 200 back, respectively, and McGee, who is second all-time in both back races at LSU, is one of only two freshmen in the conference to rank in the top-20 in both events.
Furthermore, the Lady Tigers will count on versatile talents like Katie Gilmore, Victoria Givens and Kannon Betzen to secure points in their respective events, and junior Lauren Grandy will help the squad in middle-distance freestyle races.
In addition to Dalman, freshman divers Matt Vieke and Katie Lybbert have made the trip to Auburn. Both Vieke and Lybbert have already qualified for the NCAA Zone Diving Regional in March, and each continued to progress throughout the season.
“Katie and Matt have developed all season long,” Shaffer added. “I’m really encouraged by their development and their maturity that they’ve demonstrated throughout the season, and I would like to see that carry through to their first SEC Championships.”
Wednesday’s action will include the 200 medley and 800 freestyle relays and the men’s one-meter and women’s three-meter diving.
A link to the live results page provided by Auburn will be listed on www.LSUsports.net as soon as it becomes available.
2009 SEC Championships ? Competition Schedule
Wednesday, Feb. 18
Prelims ? Noon (CST)
200-yard Medley Relay
800-yard Freestyle Relay
Men’s One-meter Diving
Women’s Three-meter Diving
Finals ? 6 p.m.
Men’s One-meter Diving
200-yard Medley Relay
Women’s Three-meter Diving
800-yard Freestyle Relay
Thursday, Feb. 19
Prelims ? 10 a.m.
500-yard Freestyle
200-yard Individual Medley
50-yard Freestyle
Women’s One-meter Diving
Men’s Three-meter Diving
Finals ? 5:30 p.m.
Women’s One-meter Diving
500-yard Freestyle
200-yard Individual Medley
50-yard Freestyle
Men’s Three-meter Diving
200-yard Freestyle Relay
Friday, Feb. 20
Prelims ? 10 a.m.
400-yard Individual Medley
100-yard Butterfly
200-yard Freestyle
100-yard Breaststroke
100-yard Backstroke
Women’s Platform
Finals ? 6 p.m.
400-yard Individual Medley
100-yard Butterfly
200-yard Freestyle
100-yard Breaststroke
100-yard Backstroke
Women’s Platform
400-yard Medley Relay
Saturday, Feb. 20
Prelims ? 10 a.m.
200-yard Backstroke
100-yard Freestyle
200-yard Breaststroke
200-yard Butterfly
Men’s Platform
Mile Heats ? 4 p.m. (approx.)
1650-yard Freestyle
Finals ? 6 p.m.
1650-yard Freestyle
200-yard Backstroke
100-yard Freestyle
200-yard Breaststroke
200-yard Butterfly
Men’s Platform
400-yard Freestyle Relay