BATON ROUGE — The nationally-ranked LSU swimming and diving teams will head to College Station, Texas, for their annual battle with Big 12 powerhouse Texas A&M at 11 a.m. (CST) Saturday in the Student Rec Center Natatorium.
The 22nd-ranked LSU men (6-4) are coming off a 200-93 win over the University of the Incarnate Word last Saturday and have emerged victorious in five of their last six dual meets. The 23rd-ranked Lady Tigers (10-3) earned their 10th victory of the season versus the Lady Cardinals, securing a double-digit win total for the first time since the 1998-99 season.
The No. 8 Texas A&M women are 3-2 on the season and finished sixth at the 2010 NCAA Championships. The 20th-ranked Aggie men, who placed 12th at last season’s NCAA Championships, boast an undefeated 4-0 mark this year.
“We always look forward to our meets against A&M,” co-head coach David Geyer said. “Their women are consistently a top-10 program, and it’s great for our women to compete against them before conference. The men have had some great battles with them through the past years as well.
“It’s our last meet for our men before conference, so it’s the last chance for them to nail down their race strategies. It’s also the last meet for a few of our guys, so they are amped and ready to swim fast.”
Senior swimmer Jane Trepp and sophomore diver Rebecca St. Germain headline a talented group of Lady Tigers going into the meet.
Trepp, who is ranked No. 2 nationally in both the 50-yard freestyle and 100 butterfly, broke the pool record in the 50 free last weekend (22.69 seconds) for the third time since last January. In addition to Trepp, women’s swimmers Kannon Betzen, Amanda Kendall, Sara Haley, Cari Blalock and Torrey Bussey also possess NCAA provisional qualifying marks thus far this season.
St. Germain swept the springboard diving events against UIW and posted a season best of 308.55 in the one-meter competition. Fellow Lady Tiger diver Elle Schmidt enjoyed a fine meet versus the Lady Cardinals with runner-up finishes and career-best scores in both events.
On the men’s side, swimmers Andrei Tuomola, Hannes Heyl and Clint Hallum and divers Daniel Helm and Brian Gemberling will lead the Tigers on Saturday.
Tuomola, who won the 50 free last Saturday, holds the SEC’s third-fastest time in the 100 breaststroke and fourth-best in the 50 free.
Heyl delivered his best effort in the 100 fly this season with a 48.10 clocking against the Cardinals, currently fifth in the conference. Hallum possesses top-10 conference times in the individual medley races.
Helm and Gemberling spearhead a strong group of LSU men’s divers. Helm, the team’s top performer in the one-meter and platform, set a new personal best and program top-five mark in the one-meter with his 358.72 effort last Saturday. Gemberling registered the team’s top three-meter score for the season at that competition with his winning mark of 371.02.