BOCA RATON, Fla. — The nationally-ranked LSU swimming teams each claimed three dual-meet victories Wednesday at the Florida Atlantic Invitational in Boca Raton, Fla. Meanwhile, the Tiger diving corps wrapped up the Tennessee Invitational in Knoxville, Tenn., with the platform competition.
The 22nd-ranked Lady Tiger swimmers (7-2) emerged victorious over FAU (208-72), Penn (161-133) and Brown (174-120) but fell to No. 20 Purdue, 147-115. The 23rd-ranked LSU men (4-4) also defeated FAU (173-107), Penn (156-138) and Brown (166.50-121.50) but were edged by the 21st-ranked Boilermakers in a tight meet, 133.50-128.50.
“Physically I think we were ready to race, and we’re where we need to be,” head swimming coach David Geyer said. “However, mentally we were a little bit flat coming off seven weeks without competition and not as sharp as we needed to be.”
Freshman Daniel Helm spearheaded the LSU diving efforts in Knoxville, earning seventh in the men’s platform with a 295.25 score highlighted by a 70.50 effort on his back two and one-half somersault tuck.
Fellow freshman Sean McKinney placed 17th with a mark of 253.10, while junior Brian Gemberling tied for 18th (250.80).
In women’s platform, sophomore Rebecca St. Germain registered 16th with a 203.05 score, and fellow sophomore Elle Schmidt posted a season best of 197.30 to finish 18th.
“While we are still developing on platform, I was pleased with the our diving efforts as a whole this week,” head diving coach Doug Shaffer said. “This competition was good for us because it made us change gears really fast because we needed to come off the holiday break and dive right into a championship competition.
“With the exception of Arkansas, Alabama and Vanderbilt, all the teams we’ll face at the SEC Championships were at this invitational, so we were able to gauge where we’re at, and I’m optimistic going forward.”
On the swimming side in Boca Raton, seniors Jane Trepp and Hannes Heyl led the charge with two victories apiece.
Trepp swam to first-place in the 50-yard freestyle in 23.44 seconds and won the 100 butterfly in 56.04. Heyl came away on top in the men’s 100 fly (49.70) and touched the wall first in the 100 free (45.92).
Sophomores Andrei Tuomola, Craig Hamilton, Amanda Kendall and Jana Ruimerman also posted wins in individual competition.
Tuomola delivered first-place in the men’s 50 free (20.91), while Hamilton was first in the 500 free (4:32.60). Kendall reached the wall first in the 100 free (51.15), and Ruimerman collected the win in the 200 back (2:02.62)
In relay competition, the Tigers swept the 200 medley and 200 free relays, while the Lady Tigers took the top time in the 200 free relay.
The men’s 200 medley foursome of James Meyers, Tuomola, Heyl and Michael Saco notched a winning time of 1:31.84, while the 200 free group of Tuomola, Heyl, Saco and Reijo Hyvenen won in 1:22.75. The women’s 200 free tandem of Trepp, Kendall, Samantha Goates and Kannon Betzen closed out the meet with a victorious time of 1:34.88.
The LSU swimming teams will make the one-hour trek to Miami to race at Florida International Thursday. The Lady Tigers will challenge Kansas, American and FIU, while the Tigers take on American. The meet is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. (CST).