AUBURN, Ala. — It didn’t take long for the LSU swimming and diving teams to kick into gear at the 2009 SEC Championships as the men’s and women’s teams combined to shatter four school records in the opening session Wednesday at Auburn’s James E. Martin Aquatics Center.
The 18th-ranked men’s team set new school marks in the 200-yard medley relay and the 800-yard freestyle relay, and senior Julius Gloeckner overtook former LSU swimmer Rodrigo Castro’s nine-year old record in the 200 free with his lead-off split of 1 minute, 36.09 seconds in the 800 free relay. The Lady Tigers registered a school-record time in their 200 medley relay.
In addition, the teams received fine efforts from the LSU divers as senior Niko Dalman reached the finals of the one-meter springboard, and freshmen Matt Vieke and Katie Lybbert tallied points with top-16 finishes in their respective events.
“We couldn’t have asked for much better of a start,” LSU head coach Adam Schmitt said. “We broke four school records, and the divers performed well. We still have three more days to go, and hopefully, our performance today will encourage the rest of our athletes who haven’t competed yet that they can perform at that same level.”
After providing a taste of what was to come with a school-record mark of 1:26.99 in a time trial earlier in the day, the Tigers’ 200 medley relay foursome of Hannes Heyl, Ben Decker, Christoph Lubenau and Gloeckner swam even faster in the event finals with a blistering NCAA ‘B’ cut time of 1:26.81 to take fifth.
The LSU women also claimed the school record in the 200 medley relay time trials with a mark of 1:39.21. However, like the Tigers, the squad of Monica McJunkin, Jane Trepp, Katie Gilmore and Katherine Noland would pop an even better time in the event finals as well, improving its mark by nearly a full second with a strong NCAA provisional time of 1:38.30 to place fifth.
Following the women’s three-meter diving final, the team of Gloeckner, Andrew Reynolds, Sean LeNeave and Clint Hallum captured the school record in the 800 freestyle relay. Spearheaded by Gloeckner’s record split, the Tigers recorded a time of 6:28.83 to top the previous mark set by the same four at the Art Adamson Invitational earlier this year and finished sixth.
In diving, Dalman qualified for the one-meter final with a preliminary score of 316.35 and captured sixth-place in the event final with a 363.70 mark, which was less than 10 points off a medal finish.
Furthermore, Vieke scored 288.50 points in the men’s one-meter to take 12th overall, while Lybbert secured 14th-place in the women’s three-meter with a mark of 274.20.
“Overall, we did well,” LSU diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “Niko missed on one dive, or he would have taken second-place, and for Matt and Katie to come into their first SEC Championships and perform at this level was very encouraging.”
The women’s 800 freestyle relay squad of Lauren Grandy, Sabrina Messmer, Morgan McGee and Kannon Betzen wrapped up the first day of action with a time of 7:21.67 to finish ninth.
Moreover, senior Brandon Selts became the first Tiger to swim under 20 seconds in the 50 free this season, earning a personal best of 19.96 in a time trial, which is the seventh-fastest in school history. McGee recorded a season best in her 50 free trial, swimming a mark of 23.14.
The 2009 SEC Championships resume Thursday with the 500 freestyle, 200 individual medley, 50 freestyle, 200 freestyle relay, men’s three-meter diving and women’s one-meter diving. The preliminaries begin at 10 a.m. (CST) with the finals following at 5:30 p.m. Log onto www.LSUsports.net for live results.
2009 SEC Championships ? Competition Schedule
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